In 2022, there have been more than 530 mass shooting in the United States.
These include the massacres in the supermarket in Buffalo, the elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, and the 4th of July Parade in Highland Park. Each of these senseless, horrific violent acts has forever changed the lives of those killed and injured as well as their friends and family members.
After each shooting, there has been widespread public outcry for our government to take action with common sense gun control legislation to address age minimums, background checks, waiting periods and assault weapons. The Republican Party has been unwavering in its efforts to block all such measures.
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Instead, its leaders, including Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell, Ted Cruz and Greg Abbott, have steadfastly maintained the problem is not guns but mental health.
On Sept. 29, the U.S. House of Representatives did something about it by passing The Mental Health Matters Act. However, for all of their rhetoric, only one Republican, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, voted in favor. The other 205 House Republicans voted “no.”
Their actions could mean only one of three things:
The Republican Party doesn’t really believe mental health is the cause of gun violence; does believe it, but also believes our mental health system is fine just the way it is; or doesn’t really care about reducing gun violence in America.
Any way you look at it, there is only one conclusion to draw: They have no interest in tackling the gun crisis. Otherwise, they would be taking action themselves.
The question remains for each of us as Americans is whether rising gun violence even matters. How truly blessed we are in the United States of America to have the fundamental right to let our elected officials know just how we feel by voting.
Jeffrey Meyer, Chicago
Vote “yes” for mental health services
Residents of Chicago’s 20th, 33rd and 6th wards can improve quality of life and reduce crime by approving a minuscule increase in property taxes to restore much-needed mental health services to West Town, Humboldt Park, and South Side communities of Kenwood, Hyde Park, Woodlawn and South Shore. I urge readers in these neighborhoods to vote “yes” on this ballot question on Nov. 8.
Funds will be used to establish a new, free community mental health center, as well as outreach services targeting schools, veterans and families. Funds will benefit only these communities and be managed directly by them.
Research suggests that improving access to mental health services reduces crime. Financial barriers often prevent those in impoverished, higher-crime areas from receiving those services. The COVID-19 pandemic has increased demand and made existing health care inequities worse.
Young people on the South Side have made it clear, through groups like the Treatment, Not Trauma Campaign that they need accessible and affordable mental health services, not more policing. The criminal justice system and incarceration are not the right tools to address mental illness.
Voting “yes” on this ballot measure will give your community ownership for the mental health programs and centers created by it. Voting “yes” is a vote for compassion and care.
Angela Dancey, Uptown
