Mental health scapegoat

I have questions about gun violence being a “mental health” issue.

Does this mean gun owners would need a mental health evaluation before purchase and during ownership? (Mental health issues can develop throughout our lives and a single mental health check isn’t going to be effective.)

What constitutes a mental health issue? Taking an anti-depressant? A perscription for an anti-anxiety medication? A nervous breakdown? If yes to any of these questions, there are many who won’t be able to own or keep a firearm.

Does this mean your mental health professional (assuming you have health insurance and choose to go to one) will be sending regular updates to the FBI?

Does this mean a teen or non-mentally qualified person will suddenly no longer to be able to access his parents’/relatives’ gun safe or steal a firearm from someone else?

Seriously, mental health sounds like a convenient scapegoat that hasn’t been thought through. Besides, what senator/representative has proposed increasing funding on mental health at either the state or federal level?

Richard Chan

Spokane Valley