Mental Wellness and Guns

Mental illness and gun violence became a big topic recently. Let's open up that discussion. I have concerns that I will be killed by a person with a mental illness. And I have concerns that this individual will kill himself.

One of the three perpetrators in my rape purchased a gun. He posted on social media earlier this year that he purchased the gun. And he expressed in that posting that he is glad to live in Arizona where he is able to quickly and easily buy a firearm.

This man has also been hospitalized a lot because of problems with his mental illness. I had contact with his family who informed me of all these numerous hospitalizations and also that he has attempted suicide often.

This man knows that I have been speaking out about my sexual assault more and more so I can heal myself and help others that have been through this violence.

This individual indicated his outrage in a voicemail and in an email he sent to me about me speaking up.  This is the same man who almost killed me in that rape on that horrific night. There was not enough evidence to get a successful prosecution though.

Here is the $64,000 question. How can I verify with public officials if this man was ever involuntarily hospitalized for his mental illness? That would prohibit him from owning a firearm. That is the federal law.

There are many problems with proper reporting of red flags like this at the state levels. So this might be another situation where it all just falls through the cracks. I may never know.

Of course I have concerns about being shot. He tried once to kill me. Now he is very upset about me speaking up. And he has the gun. I have shared these concerns about this man with my family, my friends, the Phoenix Police, and in a courtroom hearing with a judge.

So I hope for the best. Just like so many of us across Arizona. Erie and Northwestern PA. And the United States. I hope this is not the day something happens with gun violence in my life.

But what else can I do at this very moment? And what can be done to protect him too? He has attempted suicide many times. And now he owns a gun.

The (Gabby) Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence wrote a report called Commonsense Solutions: How State Laws Can Reduce Gun Deaths Associated with Mental Illness. 

In an Executive Summary in that report it reads that "Existing state laws do not do enough to remove access to guns from dangerously mentally ill people."

Even if there was an involuntary hospitalization for my perpetrator's mental illness; it does not matter if this guy bought his gun through the gun show loophole. There are no background checks with private gun sales in Arizona.

I've done my part. I've alerted as many people as I can. I was concerned about this man and his mental illness well before he had a gun. And now he does.

Health and wellness and guns should indeed be about common sense. At the very least a person with an extensive history of suicide attempts; according to statistics from that Giffords Law Center report, is very likely a danger to himself in owning a gun.

This wellness is brought to you by that guy with this bulletproof billet-doux for you. That loving guy who wants us to take care of each other is Ron Blake and he can be protected at rblake5551@hotmail.com.

About the Author

Ron Blake Ron Blake is an artist and writer born in Gary, Indiana and raised with four siblings in the Chicago suburbs. Blake graduated with an MPA from Indiana University. He is a proud honorary Pennsylvanian contributing articles for Erie Gay News since the Obama Presidency. Also contributing articles and Op-Ed pieces for numerous LGBT publications as well as for USA Today, the Chicago Tribune, and Austin American-Statesman. He now resides in sunny Phoenix, Arizona. Instagram, Ron Blake (@blakelateshow) | TikTok, Ron Blake | LinkedIn