4 Shootings In 6 Weeks In 3 Southern States
UTC’s Dr. Elizabeth O’Brien believes mental health is a major contributor to the shootings that took more than a dozen lives in Chattanooga, Nashville, Louisiana and South Carolina since the start of the summer.
"A quarter of the population in the United States has depressive symptoms, a quarter, when you think about that there a lot of people who have mental health issues who may or may not be receiving treatment but those people are not necessarily violent".
All 4 shooters had some ties to prescription medications which Mark Tomlinson believes are the cause of violent behavior.
"I believe that it is the government and the FDA pushing things forward that don’t need to be pushed".
Tomlinson a proud gun owner claims while all 4 men carried some form of weapon, guns are not the problem.
"Open carry and arming civilians is probably a better way of doing things and i actually have talked to a police officer who saw me carry and said with more civilians like you it would make our job a lot easier".
Cleveland resident Katie Quinn disagrees believing guns to be a huge part of the problem but adds technology is also playing a role.
"The internet and cell phones, things at our finger tips allow us to get farther and farther away from the community that people need to be in, physically be in the room and have those conversations rather than texting or calling, its fun but you need to get together with people".
Her views on open communication and societal pressures are echoed by Georgia native Kathy Riddle.
"I don’t want to say it’s bad parenting because i am not necessarily the best parent in the world but i did always take time to talk to my children and if they were having issues i would sit down and talk to them, if they were sad i would find out why".
Dr. O’Brien added that labeling terroristic behavior as mental illness is not helping those who are already afraid to seek help.
The community foundation of Greater Chattanooga has just approved 10,000 dollars to help with mental health first aid training in our city.
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