Weird how mental illness hardly shoots anyone in Canada.

@AmishSuperModel Universal Healthcare. It works.

@JonKramer @AmishSuperModel Well, unless you need mental health support within the next 6 to 12 months or so, but yeah, I do very much enjoy not having to check my bank balance before I decide if I'm going to get a detached extremity put back on.

@gordoooo_z @AmishSuperModel, have you priced mental health services or availability in the USA?

@JonKramer @AmishSuperModel No, but let me clarify that I was not implying that I thought whatever was going on over there was a better alternative, but that we still have room for improvement (and another self-guided CBT app is not going to cut it).

@gordoooo_z @JonKramer Let me clarify for you both, not that this isn’t a healthy debate.

The tweet meant that America doesn’t have the market cornered on mental illness, WE HAVE A GUN PROBLEM!

@AmishSuperModel @JonKramer That was not at all unclear. I would say "it shouldn't even need to be said" but clearly it does, and clearly it always has, but clearly it may not matter what anybody says about it. Is the gun control debate even about guns anymore?

It's more about whose side you're on. Meanwhile actual people are being actually shot with actual bullets while monied people in high places argue about their favourite colour.

@gordoooo_z @AmishSuperModel , it should be noted who does the shooting. Despite having the same access to guns, women do not commit mass murders or gun crimes. It isn't "the guns". It IS young conservative men. We seem to ignore this, I'm guessing because it isn't politically correct to make the observation. But this is real. The next mass shooter (killing strangers) will be a young white Christian male. This can't be ignored.

@JonKramer @gordoooo_z I am NOT disagreeing with either of you. Testosterone-fueled shootings run rampant in America. Crazy white males and mass shootings draw big media, but urban crime is constant. Either way, the problem is EASY ACCESS TO GUNS! Whether it’s urban gangs, mental health, or males—the issue is easy access to guns! Check where the guns come from in Chicago crimes.

@AmishSuperModel @gordoooo_z , I disagree. If you take away guns, the root cause remains. The homicide rates won't change. The weapons will change, but I have never met anyone who said "I'm glad my child was beaten to death with a bat, instead of being shot", so I don't see this as an improvement. Nations that ban guns don't see drops in homicide rates. We need to refocus on the root cause. Even if that isn't politically correct.

The problem is disease. Mental disease, affecting young men. POTUS should order the CDC to investigate. But, this seems to be another 3rd rail of politics. It's just easier to blame guns...

@JonKramer @AmishSuperModel obviously the gun itself isn't the root cause of gun violence. Somebody has to pull the trigger and there's definitely something in the water down there--nd in the last few years probably the milk, the grass, the air, I digress--but the fact is still that if you want to do the most damage with the most efficiency, well, an AR-15 seems like a pretty good choice*. Not too many of that style of weapon in Canada.

@gordoooo_z @AmishSuperModel it's hand guns that kill the most, and it isn't in the water, because women drink the same water.

It's young conservative men. Seriously. And ya, they occasionally drive vans into crowds. Or other cars. Women don't do that either. We are focused on the wrong thing. And that we are focused wrong is blatantly obvious.

It's a healthcare issue. Mental health.

@JonKramer @gordoooo_z Seriously, America’s gun deaths are simply a mental health issue? I don’t disagree it’s multifaceted, but the problem is our gun culture. I never said “take away the guns”! I said “easy access” was the problem. Do you have any idea how hard it is to red flag a 17 year old who can get easy access to a weapon on the streets or from his parent? How about we require license, registration, background check and insurance on every gun that changes hands?

@AmishSuperModel @gordoooo_z , easy access is obviously not the problem. Women in America have easy access to guns, yet do not commit these atrocities. This is blatantly obvious. Our failure to address the mental health of the population that does do these crimes I BELIEVE is the root problem, but I advocate POTUS demanding that the CDC research this issue to be sure.

@JonKramer @gordoooo_z then, how do you explain that we are the only industrialized nation on the planet that has a problem with conservative white males and guns?

@AmishSuperModel @gordoooo_z , again, I BELIEVE it to be a lack of mental health care. I stated that the very 1st post I made in this thread, and the last post before this one. I know it isn't access to guns. I know it isn't machine guns. I know it isn't immigrants. I also know as long as we blame something or someone it isn't, we will never address the problem. My deep suspicion is that systemic sexism and racism keeps us from honestly addressing the problem.

@JonKramer @gordoooo_z So, I’ll end this by saying stop “believing” it’s not America’s gun culture & easy access to deadly, military-grade weapons w/o universal background checks because women have same access to weapons as men although women (less than 2% worldwide) ever commit mass shootings. That argument is the same worldwide, but only the US has this problem consistently. As a mental health provider, I know we can’t counsel our way out of this mess. Do some research.

@AmishSuperModel @gordoooo_z I have advocated that research for decades.