Trump says guns aren't the problem - mental health is

[downtoearth]

Trump may be more brash or have different views on taxes than the other R candidates, but he's all party line with gun control and the projection that gun violence is a mental health issue not a gun availability issue.

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CNN's Chris Cuomo questioned Trump on guns and gun control after last week's shooting at the

Donald Trump: Mental health, not gun problem

www.cnn.com/2015/08/27/politics/donald-trump-virginia-shooting-mental-health-gun-laws/

Washington (CNN)—Donald Trump said Thursday he is opposed to tightening gun laws in the U.S. but is in favor of addressing mental health to prevent shootings, one day after a man shot two journalists on live television.

"This isn't a gun problem, this is a mental problem," Trump told CNN's Chris Cuomo on "New Day." "It's not a question of the laws, it's really the people."

Calling the gunman a "very sick man," Trump said mental illness is "a massive problem" in the U.S. He suggested more resources should be devoted to addressing mental health -- hoping to prevent shootings like the one in Virginia, which he called "really, very sad."

Trump did not offer specific solutions to addressing the mental health problem, but said there are '"so many things that can be done" and repeatedly said the Virginia shooter, who killed himself Wednesday after killing two others, should have been "institutionalized."

RELATED: 2016 candidates react to Virginia shooting

"In the old days they had mental institutions for people like this because he was really, definitely borderline and definitely would have been and should have been institutionalized," Trump told Cuomo. "At some point somebody should have seen that, I mean the people close to him should have seen it."



Gun control advocates once again pressed for reforms in the wake of Wednesday's tragedy, with President Barack Obama calling the shooting "heartbreaking" and "one more argument for why we need to look at how we can reduce gun violence in this country."

"What we know is that the number of people who die from gun-related incidents around this country dwarfs any deaths that happen through terrorism," Obama said, as his spokesman Josh Earnest earlier in the day reaffirmed Obama's plea for "common sense" gun legislation.

Hillary Clinton also made a similar case on Wednesday. On Thursday, she tweeted: "We are smart enough -- compassionate enough -- to figure out how to balance legitimate Second Amendment rights with preventive measures."



But Trump insisted Thursday that changes in the nation's gun laws were not the solution needed, saying he is "a very strong Second Amendment person."

And he insisted it should not be more difficult for "sane people" to get guns, pointing to Chicago's tough gun laws failing to prevent the scourge of gun violence in that city.

Again, Trump pivoted to mental health.

"I guarantee you there are a couple of people that knew this man that did the killing yesterday that probably said, 'Wow he's really got problems I mean he really should be institutionalized,'" Trump said.

Trump also praised the reaction of the journalists' colleagues, who continued to broadcast live throughout the day on Wednesday.

"The reaction of the colleagues and the station has been really incredible and it's really inspiring to watch," Trump said. "It's too bad that we can't figure it out beforehand, but it's a pretty tough thing to do."

[bimbi284]

I'm not at all surprised he feels this way.

[downtoearth]

Aug 31, 2015 14:48:14 GMT -5 Dig Ophelia said:

OMG I'm getting ragey from reading this.  Go fuck yourself, Trump.  Off a cliff.

Aug 31, 2015 13:33:55 GMT -5 downtoearth said:

"In the old days they had mental institutions for people like this because he was really, definitely borderline and definitely would have been and should have been institutionalized," Trump told Cuomo. "At some point somebody should have seen that, I mean the people close to him should have seen it."

I know - he makes it sound so easy that in the "old days" you could just plop someone in a mental institute. Guess what... they did, but it was against the patients wishes often, even as an adult. Many times PPD, which my grandma had, was treated like this and your husband could just drop you off at an institute to get fixed and come back a month later or so. All it took was a man (and sometimes the doctor) deciding his wife needed help, not even the woman agreeing. Ah, the good "old days," that Trump wants to return to.

[laurack]

we need more lobotomies. They've become so out of fashion and look what happened because of that

if a person seems a bit off, ship them to an institution. All their guns go to most-sane-seeming next-of-kin

[bimbi284]

Aug 31, 2015 15:01:06 GMT -5 Dig Ophelia said:

What I hate so much about this "It's the crazies, not the guns" bullshit is that it's furnishing even more stigmatization of those who deal with mental health issues. There are millions of people who suffer from some kind of mental illness who are *not* a threat with regards to violence towards others.

But, sure. Stick us all in institutions, Trump. Who needs gun control and gun safes when you can just control and lock up all the "crazies". Meanwhile, perfectly "sane" gun owners are maiming and killing each other and others, all in the name of "Freedom".

Basically all of this.

[NitaX]

Outside of the fact that this is Trump, maybe he's right. It's not the guns. It is the person holding the gun. But, I'm not so sure it's all mental health either. Where do we talk about people controlling their rage so that in a fit of anger, they aren't out shooting people? Do we ever discuss that at all?

[Deleted]

Why is "institutionalizing" someone necessarily a bad thing? The term itself is a poor choice but people bitch all the time about Reagan closing psych hospitals. Is it worse than the "treat them and street them" after 2 days alternative we have now?

Longer term hospitalizations could be a life saver for so many people.

[ttt]

Aug 31, 2015 15:54:06 GMT -5 NitaX said:

Outside of the fact that this is Trump, maybe he's right. It's not the guns. It is the person holding the gun. But, I'm not so sure it's all mental health either. Where do we talk about people controlling their rage so that in a fit of anger, they aren't out shooting people? Do we ever discuss that at all?

Yes never mind that the vast majority of shootings aren't committed by the mentally ill. I mean what, every member of Los Zetas is mentally ill? Every man who hits his wife needs to be in a mental hospital? Oh and the two year old who accidentally shot his three year old sister, he just needed mental healthcare?

[Deleted]

Aug 31, 2015 15:54:06 GMT -5 NitaX said:

Outside of the fact that this is Trump, maybe he's right. It's not the guns. It is the person holding the gun. But, I'm not so sure it's all mental health either. Where do we talk about people controlling their rage so that in a fit of anger, they aren't out shooting people? Do we ever discuss that at all?

I agree. Not all shooters are mentally ill. Some are just bad people.  And treating them is not going to do anything. 

[jln]

We could just give them lobotomies and hysterectomies while we're at it.

[gretchenindisguise]

Why can't it be both a mental health problem and a gun problem? I don't think you can solve the problem without fixing them both (and not the Trump way).

[LeggsBenedict]

Aug 31, 2015 14:47:30 GMT -5 jenny1980 said:

His solution is to institutionalize people suffering from mental health issues like "the old days"? Omg.

I would recommend he read mad in america but that might just give him ideas.

[miniroller]

Aug 31, 2015 17:00:30 GMT -5 gretchenindisguise said:

Why can't it be both a mental health problem and a gun problem? I don't think you can solve the problem without fixing them both (and not the Trump way).

And obviously creating laws to prohibit gun ownership is infinitely easier than laws that demand mental health care. Absolutely we need to fix both of these humongous problems in our country, but I certainly don't trust Trump (or any R candidate, really) to expand our country's mental health services & put some real effort in wiping away the current stigma. So I feel like when they say it's not guns, it's the crazies, they're saying- I don't plan to do a single thing about this ever-increasing threat to our country.