Parsing the Science on Mental Illness and Mass Shootings
Both marchers and mourners turned out in Parkland, Florida over the weekend to memorialize their loved ones and friends lost in the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School last week.
Over the last several days, the nation is once again grappling with polarizing arguments about gun control and mental health.
Last week, President Donald Trump waded into the debate. In a statement issued Thursday, he said his administration was “committed to working with state and local leaders to help secure our school and tackle the difficult issue of mental health.”
But right now, very little is known about the shooter, and some say that focusing on mental health doesn't do anything to prevent these types of shootings. Jonathan Metzl, director of Vanderbilt University’s Center for Medicine, Health and Society and research director of the Safe Tennessee Project, and co-author of "Mental Illness, Mass Shootings, and the Politics of American Firearms," explains.
According to the U.S. Census, 20 percent of the population in Parkland is foreign born. Many are from nations that have been racked by violence, but rarely see mass shootings. Keyvan Antonio Heydari, a reporter with Reporters Without Borders covering the Caribbean and Florida, shares how immigrant families are reacting to the shooting.
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This segment is hosted by Tanzina Vega.
