Republicans have been using high-sounding sighs about mental health as a way to distract us from sensible gun control measures to reduce the risk of gun violence. But that NRA-fueled dodge misses the target. There is no clear link between mental illness and committing violent acts:
The vast majority of people with mental health problems are no more likely to be violent than anyone else. Most people with mental illness are not violent and only 3%–5% of violent acts can be attributed to individuals living with a serious mental illness. In fact, people with severe mental illnesses are over 10 times more likely to be victims of violent crime than the general population. You probably know someone with a mental health problem and don’t even realize it, because many people with mental health problems are highly active and productive members of our communities [U.S. Department of Health and Human Sevices, “Mental Health Myths and Facts,” updated 2017.08.29].
Research has established a clear relationship between gun violence and an intoxicant served at many political events:
By contrast, alcohol misuse is much more of a risk factor for gun violence. A link between the two has been widely established in medical research:
- A 2015 study from the University of California, Davis, found that death rates from alcohol-related gun violence were higher than those from car crashes.
- Another study published in 1997 in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that non-drinkers living in a home with alcohol users were at increased risk of homicide.
- Most recently, a 2019 UC Davis study found that California gun buyers with prior DUI convictions were more than 2.5 times more likely to be arrested later for violent crimes, including violent crimes using firearms.
…According to the latest data from the CDC, firearms were used in 23,854 suicides and in 14,542 homicides in the U.S. in 2017, and 51% of people who committed suicide used a gun.
And a 2013 meta-study found that on average, nearly half of homicide offenders were under the influence of alcohol when they committed the crime. For suicides, a recent study found that alcohol is present in about one third of all deaths.
A 2009 University of Maryland study found that a majority of domestic violence homicides were committed by a perpetrator under the influence of alcohol. Roughly 60% of all homicides involved a firearm according to the Department of Justice.
And another study from 2008 conducted by researchers at the University of New Mexico found that nearly half of perpetrators of domestic homicides had elevated blood alcohol levels. More than 60% of those homicides involved a firearm [Lisa Dunn, “Alcohol Misuse and Gun Violence: What We Know,” KCUR Radio, 2019.12.17].
It’s hard to get politicians to take any serious action against gun violence, so let’s start with a simple acknowledgment that alcohol fuels gun violence: in responsible candidates for Legislature, Congress, and President should serve no alcohol at their campaign events and should make a point of saying, in the invitations to those events and in their remarks to their crowds, that these are dry events because alcohol makes people do violent harm to themselves and others with guns.
If we have the courage to step beyond pontificating to policy, let’s tie gun rights to DUI convictions. The U.C. Davis 2019 study linked in Dunn’s article shows that DUI convictions are a clear risk factor for future violent activity. Drinking and driving indicates a lack of responsibility in the use of dangerous equipment. One DUI costs South Dakota drivers their license for at least 30 days; it should also cost them their guns for at least 30 days. South Dakota should join the 20 states that restrict alcohol abusers’ access to firearms.
Part of the conversation about mental health relates to removing the stigma to encourage people to get help. But if we’re going to address gun violence, we need to spend more time addressing alcohol use, a more potent risk factor which we normalize and glamorize. The alcohol industry donated $18.6 million to federal candidates in 2018. One alcohol industry PAC, “Six-PAC,” contributed $17,100 to 50-some South Dakota Legislative candidates (including $4,900 pre-primary) and another $1,000 to Kristi Noem in 2018.
Hmm… maybe reducing gun violence requires getting guns out of drunks’ hands and getting booze money out of politicians’ hands.
Congress finally coughs up some serious dough to study gun violence, after a 20 years lapse.
https://nowthisnews.com/politics/congress-finally-approves-funding-for-gun-violence-research
Beer…the original (and most prevalent) gateway drug.
Mr. Barth, you’d know the stories about how beer is good for ya, but did you know besides fixing what ails you it will stymie the panting and wheezing when one marches down hill at the Great Bear?
Good post Cory. Gun and booze lovers can’t refute the facts, so they wander off in the weeds with some sort of irrelevant dodge that distracts.
Red flag laws save lives. Pass them!
Alcohol makes you take risks. Cannabis makes you cautious. Put ’em together and you have a better drunk but still a drunk, likely to make continual bad decisions. That’s why gambling casino’s in Nevada allow booze on the gambling floor but don’t allow pot anywhere in the building, even though both are equally legal. Follow the money, huh?
Cory,
The study you found demonstrates why research into this topic is fraught with peril.
In order to find significance, the study authors had to discard about a third of the database. They note this in the paper that their conclusions are limited because they excluded anyone over the age of 50 from the study. Once you incorporate them back in, there’s not enough of a correlation to demonstrate significance.
Since discriminating based on age is still against this country’s laws, the challenge becomes how to meaningfully impact those who might commit violent crimes without unduly impacting the rest of the populace.
The authors note in their findings “DUI conviction prior to the time of purchase offers a relatively modest increase in explanatory power over a history of arrests or convictions.” That is, the rate with prior DUI arrests was 1.2% higher than the population with a non-DUI arrest record.
This paper highlights the general challenge of research publication, where only findings with significance gets published, forcing data to be parsed until a relationship can be found.