Wrong to blame mass shootings on mental health: K Shanmugam
Islam Is Not Terrorist by virtue of Surah Al Maidah, Verses 32 [
5:32 ]. And who is the real terrorist now?
SINGAPORE: Mental health
issues are not to be blamed for the proliferation of mass shootings in the
United States, Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam said in a Facebook
post on Sunday (Feb 18).
The US is "a great
country that cannot protect its most innocent – young children in school",
he wrote.
"It’s wrong to blame
mental health. There are people with mental health issues in every country,
including Singapore. America is not alone in having such people."
Mr Shanmugam was
commenting days after 17
people at a Florida high school were killed in
the deadliest shooting at a US high school. Alleged shooter Nikolas
Cruz, 19, was armed with an assault rifle, reports said.
Leaders in Congress, as
well as US President Donald Trump, have linked mental illness to
this latest shooting, suggesting that it was the public's responsibility
to warn officials of such dangers.
There have been eight school shootings and at
least 30 mass shootings in the US within the seven weeks since the year
started, he added.
The Member of Parliament for Nee Soon GRC said
he has met mentally unstable people at meet-the-people sessions who were
"full of anger, wanting to hit out at someone".
"If they had access to assault rifles,
which can mow down dozens in a minute, I can imagine what might happen,"
he wrote.
While the majority of Americans want gun
control, a strong lobby for those who want free access to guns have channelled money
to congressmen and other influential persons, he said.
"They can block any legislation that seeks
to control people from buying assault rifles," Mr Shanmugam wrote.
"It baffles me that people are freely
allowed to buy submachine guns, in an urban environment."
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