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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   37986 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of March 27, 2023

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An obvious example is that (almost) every time there is a mass shooting in the US, 2nd amendment types all of a sudden become very concerned about the mental health of the nation, and proclaim it to be the fundamental cause of the problem that must be addressed before anything else changes.

I think both sides systematically overestimate the efficacy of mental health screening/intervention at preventing such incidents. Some dems blame mental health and guns, or argue that mental health is a major factor. Even if someone is possibly disturbed, the options are limited. It's not like you can just involuntary commit someone or deny his rights to own guns just for being 'off' a bit. According to an FBI study, only a quarter of shooters of a sample size of 63 had a history of mental illness https://www.fbi.gov/file-repository/pre-attack-behaviors-of-active-shooters-in-us-2000-2013.pdf/view

Even 25% is pretty close to the general population level of diagnosed mental ilnesses.

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