Gun Control and Mental Illness : Case Study of Virginia Tech (Page 1 of 2►)

 

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As suggested in this argument in favor of gun control in the United States, our society is increasingly faced with situations that further enhance the idea that guns, particularly in the hands of the wrong people, are responsible for a great deal of harm. Aside from the common notion of criminals obtaining guns is the lesser understood side of the argument on gun control that deals with mental illness and how gun control applies to the mentally ill.  While many who pose an argument against gun control claim that their rights trump the constant danger and threats posed by weapons, this argument on gun control is no longer valid, especially as more tragic violent deaths occur. Whether or not these guns are legal or illegal is beside the point; the argument that gun control should be a top priority is, and should be, gaining more support as more violent events caused by guns in the hands of the wrong people increase in frequency and severity.

 

The shooting spree at Virginia Tech that resulted in the deaths of 33 students and faculty members has revived a recurring debate about gun control in the United States (Seabrook np). Among the questions that characterize this debate are: How easy should it be to purchase guns?; How can protective measures such as thorough background screening and longer wait times reduce the likelihood of a tragedy such as this one?; and Would measures not currently used, such as elevating the minimum age requirement or increasing the price of firearms, reduce intentional gun violence? While I find the tragedy at Virginia Tech and similar events at Columbine and other schools to be alarming, I do not believe that the massacre perpetrated by the mentally ill student Cho Seung Hui should result in the passage of new gun laws or a change in individual states’ policies regarding the purchase of guns.

 

These events sparked another episode in the argument on gun control in the United States and what is legal and what should, or should not be. Instead of the effects of past arguments on gun control being effective, the conversation and call to action that should be provoked by Cho Seung Hui’s tragic situation is not gun reform; it is the improved access and quality of care for people who are clearly mentally ill. The real problem at the heart of the Virginia Tech shootings was that Cho Seung Hui had an untreated mental illness. It seems more likely—and potentially more effective—to intervene by preventing violence through mental health treatment instead of trying to change gun laws. The history of the gun control argument in the United States clearly suggests that while Americans feel deeply divided about guns, their ambivalence, on the one side, and their strong passions about guns, on the other, contributes to politicians’ reticence to change gun control laws at all (Infoplease np).

 

When the media first reported the events that were unfolding at Virginia Tech, the dialogue that emerged immediately involved a focus on the need to create more barriers to obtaining guns. In the days that followed, however, more information about the shooter came to light and it was revealed that Cho Seung Hui had a mental illness, and that he had been untreated for it despite repeated referrals to counseling services. In an article in last weekend’s Sunday New York Times, journalist N.A. Kleinfield reported that Cho Seung Hui had exhibited strange behaviors his entire life. Kleinfield spoke with family members in Korea, who remembered Cho Seung Hui as withdrawn, bizarre, and all but mute. “His mother,” wrote Kleinfield, “agonized over his sullen, brooding, empty face” (A1).

 

Other family members reported that Cho Seung Hui exhibited a “pronounced bashfulness” that bordered on being anti-social (Kleinfield A1). In fact, family members could not recall whether Cho Seung Hui had any friends and they indicated that he was even withdrawn from relatives (Kleinfield A1). When Cho Seung Hui enrolled at Virginia Tech, his lifelong pattern of strange behaviors continued; he was reportedly obsessed with several girls, who even called police to report his behaviors (Kleinfield A1). It was at this point that Cho Seung Hui was referred for mental health counseling, and at this juncture when thoughtful observers of the Virginia Tech tragedy identify the first potential point at which intervention could have prevented a mass killing. The problem in the case of Cho Seung Hui, as is true for thousands of Americans with mental illnesses, both diagnosed and undiagnosed, is that there are inadequate structures in the mental health and criminal justice system to ensure that people who are referred for treatment receive it.

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