- Prioritize contemporaneous risk assessment based on evidence of behaviors that correlate with violence and self-harm at specific times, not mental illness or treatment history per se as a category of exclusion.
- Preempt existing gun access, rather than simply thwarting a new gun purchase by a dangerous person.
- Provide legal due process for deprivation of gun rights.
- Preserve confidential therapeutic relationships. “You don’t want a crisis-driven law that requires doctors to report any patient who talks with them about suicide, because that can have a chilling effect and keep people away from seeking treatment, and also inhibit their disclosures in therapy,” he said.
Prevent the unpredictable through comprehensive background checks, but also by reducing the social determinant of violence and investing in improved access to mental health and substance abuse services.
“This is a complex puzzle, with maybe a couple of pieces hidden under the rug,” Dr. Swanson said.
He reported having no financial disclosures.