Vid: The Truth About Mental Illness and Guns

Early media accounts reported that psychiatric issues were the
“fundamental
underlying causal factor” in the tragic Fort Hood shooting
earlier this week, though the army has thrown some
doubt on that claim already. CNN reports on the shooter,
34-year-old Spc. Ivan Lopez:

“We have very strong evidence that he had a medical history that
indicates an unstable psychiatric or psychological condition.
[We’re] going through all records to ensure that is, in fact,
correct. But we believe that to be the fundamental underlying
causal factor,” Lt. Gen. Mark Milley, the post’s commanding
general, told reporters Thursday.

Whether or not this particular shooter had a mental illness
diagnosis, there’s a very real danger in rushing to vilify,
profile, or otherwise target individuals with mental illnesses in
the wake of such tragedies. Watch Reason TV’s short documentary on
“The
Truth About Mental Illness and Guns” for insight into how the
irrational fear of mentally ill people has resulted in troubling
policies and proposals in the past, ranging from suggestions of
creating “a national database of the mentally ill” to the actual
creation of state-level databases used to raid the homes of
innocent, nonviolent gun owners.

Original release date was November 13, 2013, and original
writeup is below.

In the wake of any mass shooting, there’s a predictable and
justified burst of public outrage and sorrow followed by a series
of do-something legislative proposals meant to prevent similar
tragedies from ever occurring again.

Depending on the political leanings of the politician or media
figure offering the solution, the proposal often rests upon one of
these twin assumptions: We must rid the world of the wrong kinds of
weapons (i.e., “assault weapons”), or, we must keep guns away from
the wrong kinds of people (i.e., “crazy people”).

“How many more copycats are waiting in the wings for their
moment of fame from a national media machine that rewards them with
wall-to-wall attention and a sense of identity that they crave,
while provoking others to try to make their mark?”
asked Wayne LaPierre, official lightning rod of the National
Rifle Association, in the wake of the Sandy Hook elementary school
shooting. “A dozen more killers, a hundred more? How can we
possibly even guess how many, given our nation’s refusal to create
an active national database of the mentally ill?”

Even the nation’s premier gun lobby believes keeping guns away
from the mentally ill is a good idea. It’s a sensible-sounding
proposal, a logical precaution. But some forensic psychiatrists,
whose jobs include the task of identifying potentially violent
individuals, say that targeting the mentally ill isn’t as simple as
it sounds.

A recent Mayo
Clinic study points out that mass shooters tend to meticulously
plan their crimes weeks or months in advance, undermining the idea
that the mentally ill simply “snap” and go on shooting rampages
while also complicating the notion of effective gun control through
gun registries, since a methodical planner has plenty of time to
obtain weapons through illegal channels.

A more basic problem with a strategy that targets mentally ill
people is that the vast majority of them are not violent. When you
control for substance abuse, a factor that exacerbates violence in
all populations, only about 4.3 percent
of people with a “severe” mental illness are likely to commit
any sort of violence, according to a University of Chicago study.
The violence rate among those with a “non-severe” mental illness is
about equal to that of the “normal” population.

“In the absence of a history of violence or any of the other
risk factors, it is impossible to predict who will become violent,”
says Stephen K. Hoge, a forensic psychiatrist at Columbia
University. “If we put doctors in the position of acting on behalf
of the government or acting on behalf of social control, then that
undermines the therapeutic mission.”

In other words, by targeting and stigmatizing the mentally ill,
especially in the absence of a coherent risk-identification
strategy, the effect may be to discourage people who need help from
seeking it, while also stripping away the rights of a huge group of
people who will likely never commit a violent act.

California is the vanguard of the gun registry movement in the
U.S. The Attorney General’s office maintains a database called the

“Armed Prohibited Persons System” (APPS), which identifies
three groups of people whose guns should be confiscated:
Individuals with a documented history of violence, convicted
felons/wanted persons, and people with a “severe mental illness,”
as defined by the state. Lumping the broad category of “mentally
ill people” in with criminals and violent abusers can ensnare
innocent and seemingly harmless individuals in an overly expansive
dragnet.

Take Lynette Phillips, a suburban California housewife who
suffers from anxiety disorder. She encountered the APPS after a
trip to Aurora Charter Oak Hospital’s psych ward resulted in her
involuntary commitment. Phillips claims she voluntarily checked
herself into the hospital after a bad reaction to a new medication
and that the involuntary commitment was an error made by an
overzealous nurse. Representatives from Aurora
Charter Oak declined to comment on the story, but she was
released before the full 72-hour hold, and a
letter from Phillips’ personal psychiatrist confirms some of
the details in her version of events, including the fact that she
sought treatment herself.

But the involuntary commitment was enough to put Phillips on the
government radar and make her an Armed Prohibited Person. A few
days after she returned home, armed officers from the California
Department of Justice entered her house in order to confiscate a
gun she’d purchased as a gift for her husband. Upon finding more
than one firearm in the house, the agents took all of the Phillips’
guns and ammunition. They had no warrant. The CA DOJ would not
comment on this story.

“They didn’t need to do that,” says Lynette’s husband, David,
who described a scene in which the officers spread all of their
guns and ammunition on the front yard as the neighborhood watched.
“They embarrassed us in front of the neighbors.”

The Phillips have no criminal record, history of violence, or
documented substance abuse problems. But it was only with the help
of an attorney that they were able to get their guns back from the
state after several months of effort, and only under the condition
that David keep the guns in a safe that’s inaccessible to Lynette.
They did not return any of the seized ammo.

The Phillips have vowed never to let government agents into
their home without a warrant again, and Lynette remains shaken by
the experience. Since its inception in 2001, the APPS program has
resulted in the seizure of more than 11,000 guns.

“To the extent that society continues to vilify the mentally ill
and scapegoat them as the primary cause of gun violence, is a major
step backward,” says Hoge.

Watch the Reason TV video above, “The Truth About Mental Illness
and Guns,” to hear more about flawed gun control policies and for
the full story behind the Phillips’ gun confiscation
experience. 

Approximately 7:30 minutes. Produced by Zach Weissmueller. Shot
by Tracy Oppenheimer, Will Neff, and Weissmueller.

Scroll down for downloadable versions and subscribe to Reason TV’s YouTube
channel to receive automatic updates when new material goes
live.