Langman Gun Violence

Along with depression and dementia, the various illnesses defined as psychotic disorders are significant factors in relation to gun violence. It is terrifying to learn that people suffering from these disorders are allowed to carry guns and use them as they please. Psychotic disorders are a collection of severe mental illnesses, including identity disorder, agoraphobia, and most prominently, schizophrenia and bipolar syndrome. Wynne calls schizophrenia “a pervasive impairment in bioprocessing,” meaning that the illness diminishes certain brain functions of a person. He suggests that a patient of schizophrenia might believe that everyone is out to kill them. Hence, their logic for committing gun violence is that they are protecting themselves.

The Oregonian, a newspaper catering to residents in the State of Oregon, interviewed Harper-Mercer’s mother shortly after the shooting and discovered that “[he was] dealing with some mental issues, and was intolerant of roaches that had infested the building.” His disgust suggests that he was suffering from obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), which, according to Alison Leight Cowan’s article in The New York Times, “is a psychotic disorder.” Therefore, both Lanza and Harper-Mercer illustrate that people with psychotic disorders can and have committed gun violence. As persons suffering from psychotic disorders are unable to safely handle guns, regulations must be implemented to stop these people from obtaining

Although it largely depends upon the specific type, mental illnesses in general can degrade the rationality of a person’s decision-making ability. Since a person diagnosed with a mental illness is unable to properly make cognitive and logical choices, they are more likely to misuse firearms, thus posing a danger to themselves and others. Therefore, we must enact strict regulations that immobilize mentally-ill people from obtaining firearms. Gun regulations may seem repulsive to some people in our country, because for them, guns are the equivalent of freedom and security, and to regulate those firearms may be regarded as an encroachment upon American liberty. However, it is crucial to identify how this fallacy plagues our society; a gun is a gun, it is a weapon designed for the purpose of ending someone’s life. Due to their hazardous nature, guns must always be kept in the hands of responsible users; therefore, people diagnosed with severe mental illnesses should not be allowed to possess or carry firearms. Our society has partially realized this notion, as indicated by the Gun Control Act passed by Congress in 1968, forbidding people who “had been involuntarily committed to a mental hospital” from purchasing guns (Webster 35). However, it must be stressed that the control implemented by this act is not enough, as mentally-disabled people are still misusing firearms and creating massacres across this