Supporters of a new gun-control law claim it might have prevented the deaths of 32 people last year in a massacre at Virginia Tech carried out by a student who was mentally ill. Some psychiatrists, however, say the law falls short as a meaningful way to reduce gun violence.
The debate stems from President George W. Bush's signing of a measure in January intended to prevent people with serious mental illness from buying guns.
The legislation (HR 2640), sponsored by Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.), authorizes up to $1.3 billion in state grants to improve the tracking and reporting of individuals who are legally barred from gun purchases, including those involuntarily confined to a psychiatric hospital. (McCarthy's husband was killed by a mentally ill gunman who went on a rampage on a suburban commuter train 14 years ago.)
Paul Appelbaum, M.D., a professor of psychiatry at Columbia University and chair of APA's Council on Psychiatry and Law, said that a fully funded Virginia background check that looked for involuntary psychiatric care before the gun sales to the Tech shooter and the reporting of his outpatient care by state officials might have kept him from buying his weapons. "But he could have easily gotten them through other means," such as private sales and gun-show sales, which are unregulated by the background-check system, said Appelbaum, a former APA president.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I do feel bad for the legislator in the premature loss of her husband. However, this new law seems extreme, particularly given the odds that a person with a mental illness will actually commit an act of violence (I am referring here to info relayed in next post). Sounds as if Bush is buying into stereotypes and not facts.
Post a Comment