Public Safety, Mental Disorders, and Guns Public Safety, Mental Disorders, and Guns

Appelbaum PS. — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMT

In the aftermath of the shooting of 20 schoolchildren and 6 teachers in Newtown, Connecticut, on December 14, 2012, attention quickly focused on the presumed link between mental disorder and violence. With no more than rumors to rely on, the media speculated wildly on the gunman's diagnosis and drew parallels to earlier shootings involving persons with mental illness. Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the National Rifle Association, announced at a press conference that the problem of violence was largely due to people with mental illness, “genuine monsters . . . that are so deranged, so evil, so possessed by voices and driven by demons, that no sane person can even possibly comprehend them.”

JAMA Psychiatry: Firearms Topic Collection

Public Safety, Mental Disorders, and Guns Public Safety, Mental Disorders, and Guns