After the Virginia Tech tragedy, the feeling is nearly universal — “We’ve got to do something to stop this from happening in the future.” No more so than amongst the politicians.

So today the International Herald Tribune brings us an article today entitled, Virginia ends a loophole in gun laws, which, on the face of it, sounds like a “Good Thing:”

The governor issued an executive order Monday intended to prohibit the sale of guns to people who had been found to be dangerous and who had been forced to undergo involuntary mental health treatment. [...]

The governor said the database “should include any determination that someone is mentally ill and so dangerous to himself or others as to warrant involuntary treatment.”

Not to state the obvious here, but where is the Virginia governor’s data to support the connection here between mental illness and curtailing a person’s Constitutional rights? Is “involuntary treatment” really the litmus test we want to use for gun purchases (or any other Constitutional right)?

I’m sorry, but this is a dangerous, slippery slope argument. If someone who was committed for “involuntary treatment” is “too dangerous” to own a gun (ever?), maybe they’re too dangerous to vote, too. Who knows who they might vote for into office?! Maybe they’re too dangerous to put their thoughts on a website, or to procreate too… Who knows what their child might be like??

There’s a fine line between taking actions that will protect the public good, and taking actions out of fear and fright (and public relations) to counteract one irrational act.

Stigmatizing people with mental illness — voluntary treatment or not — is not the answer to anything. Suggesting in this day and age of reason, with no empirical research data to back it up, that someone who has experienced an involuntary commitment is more dangerous than someone who hasn’t, threatens to take us back to the mental health dark ages.

Dr. John Grohol is the CEO and founder of Psych Central. He is an author, researcher and expert in mental health online, and has been writing about online behavior, mental health and psychology issues -- as well as the intersection of technology and human behavior -- since 1992. Dr. Grohol sits on the editorial board of the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking and is a founding board member and treasurer of the Society for Participatory Medicine.

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    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 1 May 2007
    Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.