We’ve seen mass shooting after mass shooting. And it’s not because of gun ownership. It’s because of mental health problems. People are depressed, angry, or may even suffer from even bigger mental health problems.
There’s an epidemic – and it’s not getting any better.
Even as Biden tries to put an end to the Second Amendment, he has a moment of clarity. He recently pointed to mental health as a reason for the problems in America.
In a speech that the president gave last week, he identified, “There is a serious huge mental health crisis in this country.”
No one is disagreeing with him.
When Biden addressed the nation on gun violence, he spoke about his unity agenda. And the way to achieve this “unity” is through mental health services in schools for students and teachers to access. Additionally, he spoke about privacy protection for children from social media – especially since that is a source of harassment, bullying, and an overall taxing on one’s mental health.
The problem is that Biden is asking for too much – and Congress doesn’t even know where to begin.
This past Thursday, Biden made a plea for Congress to pass new gun restrictions, saying “For God’s sake, how much more carnage are we willing to accept?”
So, what’s the problem, and what needs to happen in order to reduce the number of mass shootings that occur around the country?
Gun restrictions will only lead to more illegal gun activity.
Mental health is where the problems lie. And addressing the mental health problem should be a top concern. Unfortunately, Biden can’t seem to figure out where to prioritize efforts. Everything that he says is in direct contradiction.
What he told Congress is very different than what he told the nation. So, at this point, we have to believe that we’re going to see the government focus more heavily on mental health than on gun restrictions. But that’s not what we’re hearing from liberal politicians on Capitol Hill.
As Newsweek recently reported, Biden may actually be crossing the political line by jumping onto the same bandwagon as Republicans. The GOP has been the ones connecting gun violence to mental health – and Biden seems to be coming around to that same idea.
Ted Cruz (R-TX) is one who has been vocal about focusing on mental illness.
Donald Trump spoke about a similar concept at the NRA event in Houston, saying “We need to drastically change our approach to mental health.”
Even as Biden is saying that there’s a mental health crisis, some Democrats aren’t buying into it.
Chris Murphy (D-CT) said, “Spare me the [BS] about mental illness. We don’t have any more mental illness than any other country in the world. You cannot explain this through a prism of mental illness because we’re not an outlier on mental illness.”
The Connecticut senator believes that what makes America different is the access to firearms and the ability for criminals and “sick people” to obtain them.
Murphy is supposed to be one of the closest allies of Biden – and he’s been tasked with working with the Republicans to establish a bipartisan framework for gun legislation.
Eric Swalwell (D-CA) seems to be hesitant to make the link to mental health, too.
This means that we have a big problem in the U.S. Congress can’t even agree as to why gun violence continues to be an issue. And even the Democrats are unable to decide on the best route to take.
We know that mental health issues are not being addressed. And until we focus on those issues, gun control shouldn’t take priority. Try telling that to the Democrats who refuse to listen, though.
