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Gun control and mental illness

Gun control and mental illness. Which is More to Blame? Tyler Mardis 11/30/2013 CRIMJ 241. introduction. Does gun control work? What are some other alternatives to gun control? Does mental illness play a factor in mass shootings and killings?

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Gun control and mental illness

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  1. Gun control and mental illness Which is More to Blame? Tyler Mardis 11/30/2013 CRIMJ 241 Murder rates and gun ownership per 100,000 people

  2. introduction • Does gun control work? • What are some other alternatives to gun control? • Does mental illness play a factor in mass shootings and killings? • 40 separate mass shootings since Columbine in April, 1999 Murder rates and gun ownership per 100,000 people

  3. Mass shootings Sandy Hook Virginia Tech Columbine April 20, 1999 Columbine, Colorado Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold Killed 13; injured additional 24 December 14, 2012 Newtown, Connecticut Adam Lanza Killed 20 children; 6 staff, and mother April 16, 2007 Blacksburg, Virginia Seung-Hui Cho Killed 32; injured additional 17 Murder rates and gun ownership per 100,000 people

  4. Leakage • Communication to a third party of intent to do harm on a target • Harris and Klebold demonstrated 8 warning behaviors • Harris and Klebold asked a friend to purchase firearms • Also posted things on their website such as “kill em all!” before shootings Murder rates and gun ownership per 100,000 people

  5. Politics around mass shootings 1994 Assault Weapon Ban Proposed 2013 Assault Weapon Ban Barack Obama Would have reinstated 1994 AWB Reintroduced by Senator Dianne Feinstein D-CA Voted down in April, 2013 in Senate (60-40) • Bill Clinton • Banned a certain number of semi-automatic weapons and magazines • Only banned weapons manufactured after the ban • No statistical evidence that it reduced gun crime Murder rates and gun ownership per 100,000 people

  6. Types of mass shootings Rampage shootings Other types Mass murders Terrorist attacks Targeted shootings Government shootings • Most common form today • Columbine • Virginia Tech Murder rates and gun ownership per 100,000 people

  7. Links between mental illness and mass shootings • Tucson shootings (Jared Loughner) • Columbine • Virginia Tech • Diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic in 2011 • Depression • Diagnosed with severe anxiety; declared mentally ill in 2005 Murder rates and gun ownership per 100,000 people

  8. Motivations • Many stressors contribute to mass shootings • Financial (71%) • Social (61%) • Psychological (32%) • Romantic (25%) • Other (18%) • Many other shooters have psychological disorders • Most have a mental illness, according to researchers Murder rates and gun ownership per 100,000 people

  9. Would a firearm ban work? • Kates and Mauser, two Harvard researchers, say the assumption that the U.S. has highest gun rates are false. • Most countries that have high gun ownership rates have low murder and suicide rates • Whereas most countries with strict gun control have higher murder and suicide rates, such as Russia • Harvard Study Murder rates and gun ownership per 100,000 people

  10. 2013 Harvard Study Kates and Mauser table Murder rates and gun ownership per 100,000 people

  11. Murder rates and gun ownership per 100,000 people

  12. Video of Obama on day of sandy hook shooting Murder rates and gun ownership per 100,000 people

  13. Conclusions • Mental illness plays a significant role in mass shootings and there needs to be greater research into its role • Stricter gun control would do very little to curb crime rates • More murders are committed with knives and hammers than firearms each year in the United States (FBI Uniform Crime Report) Murder rates and gun ownership per 100,000 people

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