General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: If we don't focus on the mentally ill how are background checks supposed to work? [View all]backscatter712
(26,355 posts)Prior history of violence has a real correlation with violence, MUCH more so than mental illness.
Just from what I've been reading, if you miraculously cured all the cases of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, etc. in the world (which would be awesome), you'd cut the overall violence rate by about 4%.
And I'm talking about the total violence rate, with all the cases that don't make the headlines, not just the sensationalized mass killings.
There are several strong correlators with violence: prior history of violence (as I mentioned), substance abuse (so I'd be for blocking people from purchasing firearms if they have DUIs, or are addicted to meth, for example), and easy access to firearms. Documented history of mental illness is not a strong correlator.