The right and its enablers in the news media prefer to shift the focus after mass shootings from the need for gun safety reform to mental health.
The new White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, is not about to play that game.
Washington Post White House correspondent Seung Min Kim tried to press Jean-Pierre at the Monday press briefing on the Biden administration’s position on the need for legislation to prevent people with mental health issues from being able to own a gun.
The implication: that only people with mental health issues engage in acts of violence.
Nuh-uh, was the answer back.
“Our nation is facing a mental health crisis, so it’s important to call it that — one that is worsened by acts of violence, like the one we saw in Buffalo, that can traumatize communities, especially communities of color,” Jean-Pierre said, before detailing the president’s push for building a mental healthcare system with a beefed-up workforce and reducing barriers to access by lowering costs.
“While we are committed to this work, I want to also underscore that the overwhelming majority of individuals with mental health problems do not commit acts of violence,” Jean-Pierre said. “And so, comments that make this about mental health only further stigma — stigmatizing mental health issues and detract from the other issues, like gun violence, that must be confronted in our society. So, just want to make that clear that we are not stigmatizing.”
Kim, being a mainstream news reporter, meaning she has to play the “both sides” game,” clapped back with the followup “(b)ut should he have been prevented from owning a gun?”
“I mean, look, this is — this goes back to making sure that, you know, we have gun reform. Right?” Jean-Pierre replied. “This goes back to making sure that we — we — you know, the president is going to continue to call on Congress to make that happen.
“And so, you know, when it comes — I just wanted to make sure when we talk about mental health, we talk about it in its fullness. And like I said, not every — it’s not, you know, not every individual that has a mental health problem commits acts of violence. So, I just want to make sure that we don’t stigmatize it.”
If only we could get reporters from the Post to understand what they’re doing here.
Story by Chris Graham
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