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Published Online: 15 October 2014

Gun Policy and Serious Mental Illness: Priorities for Future Research and Policy

Emma Elizabeth McGinty, Ph.D., M.S., Daniel W. Webster, Sc.D., M.P.H., and Colleen L. Barry, Ph.D., M.P.P.Authors Info & Affiliations

Publication: Psychiatric Services

Volume 65, Number 1

https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.201300141

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Abstract

Policies to restrict access to firearms among persons with serious mental illness are popular, but are they supported by evidence? As this literature review demonstrates, some things are clear: most persons with serious mental illness are not violent; risk assessment tools are not reliable at predicting who will be violent; and persons with serious mental illness and a history of substance use and abuse or trauma are more likely to be violent. More research is needed to develop thoughtful gun restriction policies that do not further stigmatize mental illness, the authors said.

Abstract

Objective

In response to recent mass shootings, policy makers have proposed multiple policies to prevent persons with serious mental illness from having guns. The political debate about these proposals is often uninformed by research. To address this gap, this review article summarizes the research related to gun restriction policies that focus on serious mental illness.

Methods

Gun restriction policies were identified by researching the THOMAS legislative database, state legislative databases, prior review articles, and the news media. PubMed, PsycINFO, and Web of Science databases were searched for publications between 1970 and 2013 that addressed the relationship between serious mental illness and violence, the effectiveness of gun policies focused on serious mental illness, the potential for such policies to exacerbate negative public attitudes, and the potential for gun restriction policies to deter mental health treatment seeking.

Results

Limited research suggests that federal law restricting gun possession by persons with serious mental illness may prevent gun violence from this population. Promotion of policies to prevent persons with serious mental illness from having guns does not seem to exacerbate negative public attitudes toward this group. Little is known about how restricting gun possession among persons with serious mental illness affects suicide risk or mental health treatment seeking.

Conclusions

Future studies should examine how gun restriction policies for serious mental illness affect suicide, how such policies are implemented by states, how persons with serious mental illness perceive policies that restrict their possession of guns, and how gun restriction policies influence mental health treatment seeking among persons with serious mental illness.

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Information & Authors

Information

Published In

Cover: A ‘Bear’ Chance, by Philip Russell Goodwin, 1907. Oil on canvas. Minneapolis Institute of Arts, gift of the National Biscuit Company; the Bridgeman Art Library, New York.

Psychiatric Services

Volume 65 • Number 1 • January 2014

Pages: 50 - 58

PubMed: 23852317

History

Published in print: January 2014

Published online: 15 October 2014

Authors

Details

Emma Elizabeth McGinty, Ph.D., M.S.

The authors are with the Department of Health Policy and Management (DHPM), Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore. Send correspondence to Dr. McGinty, who is also with the Institute for Health and Social Policy (within the DHPM), Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Wyman Park Building, Room 523, 3400 N. Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21218 (e-mail: [email protected]).

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Daniel W. Webster, Sc.D., M.P.H.

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Colleen L. Barry, Ph.D., M.P.P.

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Gun Policy and Serious Mental Illness: Priorities for Future Research and Policy

Abstract