gun violence prevention season

June 2024, St. Lawrence welcomed Sara Knizhnik, Founder and CEO of SAFE Illinois and Chair of the Gun Violence Prevention Initiative in the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office. 

SAFE Illinois’ efforts to build safer, stronger communities; support for gun owners’ safe storage; Lake County’s Gun Violence Prevention Initiative; and so much more. Sara’s slides are available now. Click HERE to view the presentation complete with links and phone numbers.

There are several pieces of legislation pending at the state and national level.  You can register with SAFE Illinois to get updates by clicking HERE.  

Would you like to reach out to your legislators? Click HERE to enter your address and find out who your elected officials are at the state and federal levels. Click HERE to enter your address to find out who your elected officials are at the local level.

Do you, or someone you know, own a gun and want a gun lock? Click HERE to learn where people can receive FREE cable gun locks in Lake County.

Keep an eye on this website for updates on GVP work at St Lawrence and in the broader community.  

It can be difficult to comprehend what leads people to extreme violent behavior which harms others. In the search for an explanation, many, including politicians and the media, highlight mental illness as a primary reason a person would commit horrific crimes.

However, there is much to know about the extent to which mental illness is (and isn’t) a risk factor for gun violence. Enduring, harmful myths and stereotypes about mental illness and violent tendencies deserve to be dismantled. 

The facts show that people with serious mental illnesses are, indeed, somewhat more likely to commit violent acts than people who are not mentally ill, but the large majority are not violent toward others (96%). Moreover, when persons with mental illness do behave violently, it is often—although not always—for the same reasons that non–mentally ill people engage in violent behavior. In short, violence is a complex societal problem that is caused, more often than not, by factors besides mental illness. 

MASS SHOOTINGS: We often hear after a mass shooting that mental health is to blame. However, a Columbia University research study found that of the 1,800 mass murders, only 8% of all mass shooters were diagnosed with a severe mental illness, such as schizophrenia or severe bipolar disorder. Mass murderers with psychotic illness are much less likely to use firearms, much more likely to use other methods or weapons.

LAWS to address Guns and Mental Illness: Restrictions related to mental illness have existed since 1968, but largely remained unimplemented until the 1990s.

In 1993, Congress passed the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act which instituted federal background checks for people attempting to buy guns from licensed dealers and reaffirmed the prohibited categories that the Gun Control Act had promulgated. In 1998, the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) went into effect. However, many states failed to report mental health records to the NICS system due to concerns about confidentiality and lack of data systems connecting mental health and criminal justice agencies.

In 2022 Congress passed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act: The bill provides almost $15 billion in new funding for mental health and school safety, school-based mental health programs, children and family mental health services and crisis intervention programs. With gun deaths continuing to rise in the immediate future, one would hope that this legislation will impact future generations resulting in fewer gun deaths.

CONCLUSIONS gun violence involving people with mental illness is a multifaceted problem whose solution will require a range of policy approaches and reforms working together. More attention must be given to the availability of guns, and the restrictions on purchase of guns.  (Suicides are responsible for 61% of gun violence deaths and it is generally believed that some form of mental illness is related. Suicide will be addressed in an upcoming article from the Episcopal Peace Fellowship in September 2023)