In the year 2012, the United States experienced two mass shootings barely six months apart. On July 20, James Holmes killed 12 and injured 58 at a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises in Aurora, Colo. On Dec. 14, Adam Lanza killed 20 children, seven adults and himself at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. Both men were young, in their early 20's, and were described as incredibly intelligent by their families and friends. Both men used semi-automatic weapons that were legally purchased. Both men had mental disorders.

It is hard to define what a mental disorder is. The most recent version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders includes everything from anxiety and depression to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and dyslexia to paranoia, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, as well as brain injuries, post-traumatic stress disorder, and autism. There is no one consensus of which disorders should qualify as mental illness and which should not. Each of these disorders is serious, but in varying degrees.

The National Institute for Mental Health estimates that more than one in four Americans over the age of 18 suffer from at least one mental disorder. Nearly half of those afflicted have two or more mental disorders. I am one of them. I have depression and severe anxiety and am currently on medication.

I am not comparing myself to Adam Lanza or James Holmes by any stretch of the imagination. I was fortunate enough to receive help and medication for my mental problems, and now I am fully in control of my anxiety and depression. Adam Lanza and James Holmes are very disturbed young men with violent fantasies and intense mental problems that had not been seriously addressed, magnified by their easy access to guns.

The United States needs to have a serious discussion about mental illness and how to help the 26 percent of Americans who suffer from mental disorders.

I can attest from my own experience how hard it is to tell people, even my friends, about my depression and anxiety, and how sometimes people will treat me differently once they find out. Medication, such as Prozac, is not considered to be preventative, and is not necessarily covered by health insurance. Some insurance companies, including Harvard Pilgrim Medical Care, used to put a cap on how much patients could spend on mental health care in a single year. Individuals with serious mental disorders, who are a danger to themselves and others, can easily purchase guns.

Congress needs to pass legislation to make sure seriously mentally ill individuals are not able to purchase guns. However, this legislation is not enough. There also must be gun control laws that do not only target members of the mental health community, but also would make sure assault-style weapons and armor-piercing ammunition cannot be easily bought or sold in the United States.

Mentally ill individuals are not the only ones who commit violent gun crimes. Last August, in Oak Creek, Wis., a Sikh temple was attacked by Wade Michael Page. Page killed six and wounded four before he killed himself. Page was also a white supremacist who had ties to two white power music groups that the Southern Poverty Law Center considers to be hate groups and are under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He was able to legally purchase the gun and the 19-round magazines he used at the shooting, and he was never formally diagnosed with a mental disorder. Thousands of other people who commit gun violence, be it in a gang shooting or in a drunken disagreement, do not have mental disorders either, and yet they too are dangerous and should not have easy access to guns.

Congress should pass laws that make background checks stricter, so people on terrorist watch lists or who are members of groups investigated by the FBI cannot easily purchase guns. Congress should require background checks and waiting periods for all gun purchases, without exception, and should require stricter penalties for those who violate gun laws and not just punish people who suffer from a mental disorder.

It goes without saying that we need to make sure that those who are at risk to both themselves and others cannot, and do not, have access to weapons.

However, limiting the mentally ill's access to guns is not the only answer to the growing gun violence problem. We have to make sure our gun control measures target everyone, not just the mentally ill.
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