Putting more guns in schools is dangerous and ineffective Every day, more than 50 people are murdered with a firearm and another 1,100 are threatened with a gun during a violent crime.Women living in the United States are 28 times more likely than those living in peer countries to die by firearm homicide.Guns are now the leading cause of death among children and teens, killing more young Americans than vehicle crashes, drug overdoses, and cancer combined.In a single year, gun violence kills more than 40,000 Americans, wounds nearly twice as many, and costs the country an estimated $557 billion.These sobering statistics illustrate the gravity of the gun violence epidemic in the United States: 14 This number is even higher among young Americans, who experience a gun homicide rate 49 times greater than that of other developed nations. The United States has the highest level of gun violence across developed nations, with a gun homicide rate 26 times greater than that of peer nations. However, the evidence tells a different story.įact: While most countries experience occasional incidents of gun violence, the gun violence epidemic is a uniquely American experience. The NRA often points to incidents of gun violence abroad to argue gun laws are ineffective and such widespread gun violence is not unique to America. The gun violence epidemic is uniquely American 13 The insistence that mental illness is to blame for mass violence is a deliberate attempt to shift public attention and political momentum from strengthening gun laws in America and will consistently fail to meaningfully address the gun violence epidemic. 12 However, while the expansion of mental health resources is unlikely to decrease interpersonal gun violence or mass shootings, it is likely to help prevent gun suicide. 11 Research demonstrates that only about 4 percent of violence in the United States can be attributed to mental illness, with data indicating most individuals living with mental illness will never perpetrate violence. In fact, a number of risk factors are more closely associated with gun violence than mental illness, including adverse childhood experiences, gender and age demographics, and, most importantly, access to firearms. In 2021, researchers found that only 8 percent of people who perpetrate mass shootings have a history of documented psychotic symptoms.A 2015 research study examining 226 men who committed or attempted to commit a mass shooting found that only 22 percent could be categorized as mentally ill.An FBI report covering active shooter incidents in the United States between 20 found that most assailants had not been diagnosed with a mental illness.7įurthermore, evidence indicates no significant connection between mental illness and mass shootings: Moreover, countries with strong gun oversight experience significantly less gun violence. 6 While other countries have similar levels of mental illness, none have the levels of mass shootings that the United States does. An estimated 1 in 5 Americans live with a diagnosed mental illness. 5įact: While every country is home to people living with mental illness, the United States is the only country in the world that experiences mass shootings daily. … Anybody who shoots somebody else has a mental health challenge.” 4 This claim runs directly counter to a body of evidence-based research that finds people living with mental illness are far more likely to become victims of violence than perpetrators. Greg Abbott (R), when he spoke on the deadly mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde: “e as a society need to do a better job with mental health. This common misconception was echoed most recently by Texas Gov. Despite many conservative politicians’ and the NRA’s frequent invocation of mental illness, little evidence exists to suggest that mental illness is to blame for U.S. Myth: Mass shootings are caused by mental illness. Mental illness is not a major factor in mass shootings 3 This fact sheet combats this misinformation and uplifts evidence-based solutions by debunking the myths that the gun lobby and conservative politicians frequently circulate following gun violence in America. The myths play on fear and perpetuate misinformation to such a degree that they are drilled into the public consciousness as fact and can lead to reactionary policies that do little to deter gun violence. 1 These myths range from scapegoating mental health to “door control” 2 in public spaces such as schools and are united by a set of dangerous and misleading arguments intended to increase gun ownership and decrease industry accountability.
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The gun lobby, led by the National Rifle Association (NRA), routinely deploys a series of common myths-designed to undermine legitimate arguments for commonsense gun reform-in the aftermath of high-profile mass shootings.