Is it Really Mentally Ill People Doing Massive Shootings in the United States?

On July 20, 2012, James Holmes fired shots at a midnight premiere of The Dark Night Rises, killing 12 people and injuring 70 others by gunfire, teargas, and fleeing accidents. After the incident, James Holmes was brought to trial on July 23, 2012. However, instead of recieving a prison sentence, he was found not guilty due to insanity and quickly taken to a mental hospital. It wasn’t until 2015 that the jury rejected his insanity plea because he told the jury that he would't testify in court. He was then found guilty of his actions and was charged with 12 murders and sentenced to life in prison without parole (CNN). However, the question is: Do mass shootings happen because it is a mental health issue?

Frankovic, Kathy. “Mass Shooting after Mass Shooting, Opinions about Gun Control Don't Change.” .

Mental illness and mass shootings have been linked together for countless years. According to Elizabeth Llorente, a journalist from Fox News, she reports that Grant Duwe, a criminologist from Minnesota Department of Corrections, found that 59% of 185 mass shootings were caused by mental illness (Fox News). 

This study was from 1900-2017, in which many cases showed signs of mental illness long before their attacks. Such examples were Adam Lanza, who terrorized Sandy Hooks Elementary School in 2012. Lanza, who was struggling with a developmental disorder and was on psychiatric medication, stopped taking these two medications right before the shooting. Another example is Jiverly Wong, who suffered from paranoia. Wong was charged in the America Civics Association shooting in 2009.

Are these reasonable cases of mental illness?

However, not all cases of mass shootings involve mental illness. Michael Stone, a forensic psychiatrist from Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons, reports that only 2 of 10 people who commit mass murders are actually mentally ill. He states that the shooters' motives are humiliation, antisocial disorders, or intense rage, to name a few (Washington Post). 

Because of these reasons, it is possible that Eric Harris, one of the shooters who committed the Columbine High School Massacre, in 1999, was in fact not mentally ill but was just angry that he had been rejected by the Marine Corps and he was a social outcast in his school. It also suggests that he was motivated by these reasons to intimidate and harm others.

The harm is not the people, it is the guns. Why is purchasing a gun so easy?

However, there are many ways people can reduce mass shootings. According to a study from Everytown, states who had a close background check had 52% fewer mass shootings from January 2009-July 2015. Every state that required a background check saw 37 mass shootings, while states that did not require mass shootings saw 96 (Everytown). 

Background checks are one way to analyze people who are purchasing firearms. A report from Salvador Rizzo, who works for the Washington Post, reports that with background checks people can discover if a person is mentally ill or not. 3 million people, or 1.5%, were denied guns because of background checks (Washington Post). 

Mental illness does not define all mass shooters. There are many cases where the shooter was not mentally ill and still committed the shooting. However, cases such as Sandy Hook, do have mentally ill people getting firearms and committing crimes. Even though there is a slim margin between mass shootings and mentally ill people committing crimes, most perpetrotors are not mentally ill. However, with more background checks, people can determine who gets a firearm and who doesn’t.