In the aftermath of the Sandy Hook tragedy, ANA issued a call to action to Congress and policymakers to take swift action to curb gun violence. “What the president is doing is closing a loophole”, Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Arizona, said.
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White House senior advisor Valerie Jarrett said that Obama hopes to expand the conversation during Thursday night’s town hall “Guns in America”, moderated by CNN’s Anderson Cooper.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: High profile mass shootings tend to shine a light on those few mentally unstable people who inflict harm on others, but the truth is that almost two in three gun deaths are from suicide, so a lot of our work is to prevent people from hurting themselves. “Many of the arguments I’m hearing out there feel contrived”, he said, adding that he does not believe the president’s executive action impedes Second Amendment rights. But, many of those same advocates are concerned about the President’s new push to ease access to mental health records for background checks. Instead, it will allow legitimate and legal gun retailers to sell on a more level playing field because they will not have to compete with unlicensed sellers, Gallego said.
“Our country would be much safer if he were half as tough on criminals as he is on innocent Americans”, Smith said, in a statement.
Tuesday, President Obama said he wants to spend $500 million to increase access to mental healthcare services and mental healthcare information.
“The President is ignoring that the law already requires people who sell firearms for a living to be licensed”, Hurd said, in a statement. “There is no evidence that this is a category of people who are at risk of committing gun violence”. It also gives law enforcement officers tools to identify and respond to mental health issues, and includes a five-year reauthorization of the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act, which provides support for veterans treatment courts, mental health courts, and crisis intervention teams.
“However, the stigma associated with mental illness and the erroneous belief that those with mental illness are inherently violent can only be reinforced by equating psychiatric disability and competence to manage one’s finances as determined by the Social Security Administration with a mandate to release this status to the NICS background check system”.
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As far as discussion around those who “fall through the cracks” and don’t receive help with treating mental issues, Dr. Williams says the problem is they are often least likely to be able to pay for it.
