In the shadow of the two year anniversary of one of the worst mass shootings in American history, at Sandy Hook Elementary School, an extensive new study by two Vanderbilt University researchers challenges common assumptions about gun violence and mental illness that often emerge in the aftermath of mass shootings.
When a mass shooting occurs there seems to be a familiar narrative that untreated mental illness is the primary cause for the terrifying act. But a new study published in the American Journal of Public Health by Dr. Jonathan Metzl and Kenneth T. MacLeish finds that an isolated focus on mental illness is misguided.
“Gun discourse after mass shootings often perpetuates the fear that ‘some crazy person is going to come shoot me,'” said Metzl, the study’s lead author. “But if you look at the research, it’s not the ‘crazy’ person you have to fear.”
Mentally Ill Not Violent
In the article, “Mental Illness, Mass Shootings and the Politics of American Firearms,” Metzl and MacLeish analyzed data and literature linking guns and mental illness over the past 40 years. They found that despite societal pre-conceived notions, most mentally ill people are not violent.
Article did not speak to the mental condition of those who actually are mass murderers. The article was probably paid for by the big pharma.
yeah, keyword there was “most”. does that mean 50.05% or 51% or 75%? Certainly the nut-jobs that have been doing these mass shooting are violent.