Gloria Lincoln-Thompson carries pistol in her waist band during a rally in support of the Michigan Open Carry gun law in Romulus, Michigan April 27, 2014 (Photo : REUTERS/Rebecca Cook )
A new study reveals that 1 in every 10 Americans who are violent has access to firearms. The study points a worrisome trend and United states may warrant strict gun removal laws in near future.
According to the study by the team of researchers from Duke, Harvard, and Columbia universities., 9 percent of Americans are angry, physically violent and impulsive and such people with access to firearms could potentially be very dangerous yet they have access to firearms and 8.9 percent of people possess firearms at home, while 1.5 percent of people carry guns outside their homes.
The study, as published in the journal of Behavioral Sciences and the Law, suggests that in order to trace the history of gun usage and violence, focus must be placed on the history of violent behaviour, rather than the diagnosed mental illnesses of the individual.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 11,622 people were killed in the United States in intentional acts of interpersonal violence, and injuring an additional 59,077 people in 2012. An estimated 310 million firearms are said to be in private hands.
The nation's response to firearm violence regards it to be linked in particular with mental illnesses. The new study implies that preventing people with mental illnesses in particular from owning firearms makes very little difference.
The study found that fewer than 1 in 10 of the angry, violent people were diagnosed with a mental or substance-use disorder. Rather, their behavioural history indicates a propensity for violent behaviour. Respondents of a survey who were owners of six or more firearms were said to be more impulsive than individuals who owned one or two firearms.
Angry individuals had a higher predisposition to develop psychological and psychiatric disorders such as personality disorders, alcohol use disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, and anxiety.
Traditionally and legally, individuals with psychiatric illnesses were prohibited to carry firearms. Jeffrey Swanson, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Duke University School of Medicine, said, "But now we have more evidence that current laws don't necessarily keep firearms out of the hands of a lot of potentially dangerous individuals."
