Mental Illness and New Gun Law Reforms The Promise and Peril of Crisis-Driven Policy Mental Illness and the New Gun Law Reforms

Swanson J. — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 00:00:00 GMT

The December 2012 tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, transfixed the nation in a moment of shared grief for 20 small children and 6 adults who died in a merciless hail of bullets. The weeks since have brought numerous federal and state policy proposals to curb gun violence. Whether these crisis-driven reforms can help inch society toward the goal of reducing firearm-related deaths, the new laws' broader social consequences could long outlast the memory of what happened at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Policy makers would do well to pause and think them through.

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Mental Illness and New Gun Law Reforms The Promise and Peril of Crisis-Driven Policy Mental Illness and the New Gun Law Reforms