Mental health provisions in President Barack Obama’s executive order on gun control may not be as successful as planned, according to University faculty and students.
In his address, Obama framed mental health care as a component in gun violence prevention. His plan aims to identify mental illnesses and make mental health care accessible.
The overall concept is more complicated, according to Justin Ory, a clinical psychology graduate student specializing in neuroscience.
He said that many non-violent citizens who suffer from mental illness may be denied their Second Amendment rights.
“If you look at the rate of severe mental illness in the general population, that’s 1 to 3 percent,” Ory said. “That’s jeopardizing rights for everyone with that disease.”
In “Violence and Mental Illness — How Strong is the Link?” Richard A. Friedman states, “Of course, because serious mental illness is quite rare, it actually contributes very little to the overall rate of violence in the general population; the attributable risk has been estimated to be 3 to 5 percent.”
Psychology professor Alan Baumeister said privacy is a major obstacle for potential regulations.
“Can the federal government ask doctors or require them to provide this information? The answer to that question may be no,” Baumeister said.
Ory said physicians cannot share an individual’s medical records, but one can give a physician permission to release information.
Additionally, most people who have psychological problems already have a “stigma” and do not want their problems to be made public, said Baumeister.
According to the Louisiana Concealed Handgun Permit Laws and Administrative Rules, carrying a concealed weapon requires the citizen not suffer from a mental disease or illness.
Baumeister said mental health regulations may not necessarily prevent gun violence.
If someone cannot purchase firearms legally, that does not mean he or she will not be able to acquire them, Ory said.
“There are a lot of sick people who have never been committed to a hospital,” Baumeister said.
Mental disease does not always mean violent behavior, Ory said.“Only one in 100,000 people with schizophrenia are going to commit a mass shooting,” Ory said.
In regard to the Sandy Hook, Conn. shooting on Dec. 14, Ory said, “It sounds like a failure of his mother to not properly secure the weapons, rather than the system.”
Ory said psychologists of people who commit such crimes could be at risk after concluding evaluations.
“There are legal and safety implications. If you are a psychologist and do these assessments and someone commits a crime with a firearms, if you run the assessment, you are responsible. It’s a liability I’m not sure a lot of psychologist would welcome,” Ory said.
“There are legal and safety implications. If you are a psychologist and do these assessments and someone commits a crime with a firearms, if you run the assessment you are responsible. It’s a liability I’m not sure a lot of psychologist would welcome,”
