Make Ohio Require Mental Health Records To Apear on Backround Checks, and Require a Doctors Note

Thesis Statement
We can reduce suicide with guns by making serious or current mental illnesses accessible and in background checks and a meeting with a psychologist required and denying these people the right to buy guns.

Suicide with Firearms
When someone commits suicide with a gun, 85% of the time is lethal. This is compared to the 3% lethality of pills
Gun owners and their families are more likely to commit suicide
In a 2008 study, states with the highest rate of firearms had a higher rate of firearms suicide 3.7 times higher for men and 7.9 higher for women. However in both states the rate for nonfirearm suicides was the same.
However there was no difference in mental illness rates and considering suicide
Over 90% of suicides are committed by people with a diagnosable mental illness
It is estimated that 2-15% of people diagnosed with major depression die by suicide.
It is estimated that 3-20% of people diagnosed with bipolar disorder die by suicide.
It is estimated that 6-15% of people diagnosed with schizophrenia die by suicide.
People with personality disorders are 3 times more likely to commit suicide
In 2010 19,308 people died from suicide using a firearm .

General Suicide and Mental Illness Statistics
In 2013 41,149 people died from suicide in the U.S.
There is one death by suicide every 40 seconds
This is including all other forms of suicide, as well as firearms
21,175 people die from suicide using a firearms
One in four adults who experience a mental disorder in a year.
That's 61,500,000 adults a year
350,000,000 people are affected by depression
79% of all U.S. Suicides are committed by men.
Only 41% of people with mental illnesses will receive help
Not only will this solution help reduce suicide rates it will also help people diagnose and get treated for mental illnesses
People who die from suicide commonly are undiagnosed and untreated
Suicide is most common among people ages 15-44

Violence and Mental Illness
A person with a mental illness is 3-4 times more likely to commit a violent act.

Other Important Facts
25-50% of people with personality disorders have substance abuse or major depressive disorder.
This gets into letting people with alcohol problems have guns.
Solution!
There are more than 3.4 million mental health records in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS)
More than half of these records were added in 2013
43 states have laws in place for NICS
Richardson said. “If we truly want to make this a safe, healthy community, we should make mental health services much more accessible, resource them much better than we do now and help reduce the stigma and open the access to this level of care."
After NICS was put in place Virginia denied 438 firearm purchases based on mental illness.

Even with NICS stopping some of the mentally ill from receiving guns it doesn't cover those who are not diagnosed or have a moderate mental illness. I think that if we had all mental health records available for background checks it could stop many suicides. If we have gun buyer get a doctor's note before purchasing a gun, we could save people who have a mental illness but are not diagnosed. By making them aware of their illnesses could get them help and on the road to recovery.



Works Cited
AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly and Company, and Actavis. "Mental Health Screening Tools." Mental Health America. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May 2015.
"Fact Sheets." Facts About Mental Illness and Suicide. University Of Washington, 2015. Web. 12 May 2015.
Holmes, Lindsay. "19 Statistics That Prove Mental Illness Is More Prominent Than You Think." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 14 Jan. 2015. Web. 12 May 2015.
"Magazine Features." Magazine Features. Ed. Madeline Drexler. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May 2015.
"Mental Health Reporting Policy Summary." Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence RSS. N.p., 16 Sept. 2013. Web. 12 May 2015.
"Save. Suicide Awareness Voices of Education." SAVE. N.p., 2015. Web. 12 May 2015.
"Suicide and Self-Inflicted Injury." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 06 Feb. 2015. Web. 12 May 2015.
Ungar, Laura, and Chris Kenning, The (Louisville, Ky.) Courier-Journal. "Guns Most Deadly Choice in Suicide Attempts." USA Today. Gannett, 21 July 2013. Web. 12 May 2015.
Walsh, Lynn, and Brian Kuebler. "Mental Health Records Reports Crucial to Firearms Purchases." WMAR. Scripps Media Inc., 2014. Web. 12 May 2015.


Links-
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/suicide.htm
http://www.save.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.viewPage&page_id=705D5DF4-055B-F1EC-3F66462866FCB4E6
http://depts.washington.edu/mhreport/facts_suicide.php
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/07/21/guns-most-deadly-choice-in-suicide-attempts/2572097/
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/magazine-features/guns-and-suicide-the-hidden-toll/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/01/mental-illness-statistics_n_6193660.html
http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/mental-health-screening-tools
http://www.abc2news.com/news/health/mental-health-records-reports-crucial-to-firearms-purchases
http://smartgunlaws.org/mental-health-reporting-policy-summary/