Veterans With Post Traumatic Stress Disorder According to the United States Department of Veteran Affairs, “22 veterans commit suicide every day, or every 65 minutes”(Basu). An epidemic, Post Traumatic Stress disorder, is occurring among veterans. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is defined as a serious and potentially debilitating disorder that occurs from a traumatic event one has witnessed or experienced. In 1980, the American Psychiatric Association formally recognized and added it to diagnose mental disorders (Friedman). In recent years, there has been controversial debate on whether or not veterans who suffer from PTSD should have access to potentially deadly weapons. To some, letting sufferers have access to weapons is a constitutional right; however, to opposers it is a potential for disaster. Veterans who suffer from severe PTSD should not have the ability to have such weapons not only for personal safety, but, safety …show more content…
In the United States, under the code of Chapter 44 which describes firearms, it states, “it is illegal and a federal felony… if a person has been adjudicated as mentally defective or has been committed to any mental institution for he or she to possess a firearm”, meaning that it is a federal crime for a person who has been labeled as mentally unfit or if have been admitted to a mental institution (PTSD Firearm). To own a firearm PTSD veterans have to check “yes” on the question given, “if you suffer from a PTSD diagnosis and fall into either of these categories, you would be an unlawful possessor of firearms” (PTSD Firearm). The American Psychiatric Association deemed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder “under the third edition of its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders” these gun laws both by Federal and State Law apply to veterans who currently suffer from PTSD (PTSD