Act on the Facts about Mental Health and Gun Violence

Act on the Facts about Mental Health and Gun Violence

Posted on September 30, 2023

Opinion piece co-authored by NAMI CEO Daniel Gillison and Kris Brown, president of Brady, about finding solutions to the gun violence crisis in America and the importance of not misrepresenting mental illness in the process. Mental health conditions are common around the globe, yet Americans kill each other with guns at 25 times the rate of other high-income countries. Most gun deaths are not the result of mass violence but are the result of suicide. Gun suicides account for over half of all gun deaths in the U.S. each year. Suicide rates reached a record high in 2022, with about 49,500 suicide deaths and more than half (26,993) the result of firearms. This number represents the majority of all gun deaths. Tragically, it is also a record high for gun-related suicides. Mental health is not the cause of gun violence in America, and we must stop viewing it as the root of this crisis. Together, if we shift our culture and amend our understanding of the relationship between mental health and guns, we can save lives.