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Should mental health issues stop you from getting a gun?

Marinella Yada, 52, believes in-depth tests to determine mental competence should be required before an individual is allowed to own a gun in America.

Yada, interviewed Monday at a Tenleytown Starbucks, said that an abundance of firearms but a lack of access to mental health care is one reason why the United States continues its struggle with gun violence.

“The government needs to be more consistent with profiling and dig deeper to find out more about people,” Yada said. “There has to be more effort from all levels of government.”

Yada represents a growing number of Americans who feel people suffering from mental illness should have their restrictions on firearm ownership tightened. In January, a Pew Research report found 79 percent of those surveyed agreed with laws to prevent mentally ill persons from buying guns. That support was nearly identical across party lines.

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A half dozen Washington, D.C. residents and visitors felt mental health issues are key to gun ownership laws, especially in the wake of high-profile shootings in Orlando and Newtown.

Danielle Higgins, 25, who sat at her laptop at a Tenleytown Panera, said no citizen needs to own a gun and more guns in the hands of anyone means more violence in society.

Doug McKenna, a 42-year-old American University employee, agreed with Higgins that guns were not meant for the general public to carry and use.

“I believe that the Second Amendment guarantees the right to a well-regulated militia, and people stockpiling AR-15s and ammunition are neither well-regulated nor a militia,” McKenna said.

Paul Daily, 45, said he agrees with Americans’ Second Amendment rights, but says for those with mental health issues, there may need to be more safeguards.

“Everybody has the right to bear arms,” Daily said. “But people need to realize that there’s also the issue of mental health, which is a much bigger issue than just guns.”

Sixty percent of mass shootings committed in the United States since 1970 have involved a mentally ill shooter, according to the National Institutes of Health.

But, those statistics differ from others offered by the National Association of Social Workers, which claim the majority of violent gun crimes are actually committed by those with no mental health diagnosis. There have been a few instances which involve a mentally ill shooter, but these should not exemplify the community as a whole.

However, most of those interviewed this week maintain that while gun ownership should not be prohibited for the mentally ill, stricter requirements must be employed should they choose to obtain a firearm.

“With pretty much any diagnosable mental health condition, there needs to be restrictions on gun ownership,” McKenna said. “Anything we can do to reduce the number of guns in people’s hands is a good thing.”

 

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AU community will see more gender inclusive signs on restrooms

Gender Inclusive sign

American University will increase the number of gender inclusive restrooms on campus and will up the number of signs indicating where they are located, according to a university official.

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A man walks by a sign noting a new gender inclusive restroom inside the School of International Service at American University. Photo credit Jennie Yu.

The university had previously referred to the facilities as family or unisex restrooms,in the wake of a 2006 Washington, D.C. law.

Sara Bendoraitis, 37, the Director of Programming, Outreach, and Advocacy at American University’s Center for Diversity and Inclusion said that 2006 law was the main factor prompting the change in how restrooms were labelled on campus.

“People have the right to use the bathroom that best fits their identity,” Bendoraitis said.

Under that act’s Gender Identity and Expression clause, all public facilities are lawfully required to provide adequate accommodations for individuals who would feel uncomfortable or unsafe using restrooms that are gender segregated. In addition, single-stall restrooms must have gender neutral signs.

Of gender neutral bathrooms on campus, Bendoraitis said they “are not new on campus, and they actually exist in all aspects of our daily lives.”

Although laws protecting gender neutral spaces have been on the books in the district for a decade, the issue gained widespread prominence after North Carolina legislators voted in March to strip transgender individuals of their right to use a public facility of the gender they identify as.

Laura Neumayer, a 19-year-old junior studying in the School of International Service, and Julia Baldwin, 24, studying nutrition, both agreed that American’s decision to classify several restrooms as gender neutral was not surprising.

“AU is notably liberal and progressive, and the student body is very inclusive,” said Neumayer, who worked on a laptop outside the Dav cafe. “They have always tried to be this way, so the gender neutral restrooms have been on campus for a while.”

Some voiced opposition, saying they did not see the necessity of changing the signage on campus.

Carl LeVan, 45, is an associate professor of political science. He believes the university made a courageous decision by updating its signage, but he was unclear as to why labeling restrooms as unisex was inadequate.

Bendoraitis said that although the function of the facilities themselves has not changed, new labels of gender neutral are essential in order for AU to meet the needs of those who may not be comfortable using the traditional single sex restrooms.

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A sign posted outside a gender-neutral bathroom at an American University dorm encourages inclusion. Photo credit Jennie Yu.

“It is not about the comfort of everybody else,” Bendoraitis said. “It’s about the comfort of that person, and making sure they have access to the facilities that they would like to use.”