Expensive Governor Walz,
I’m a psychiatrist and have practiced for many of my profession
in Minnesota. A lot of that point was spent working an acute care unit at St.
Paul-Ramsey after which Areas Hospital. In
acute care psychiatry we spend most of our time addressing psychiatric
emergencies involving violence and aggression directed at self and others. The
purpose is to stop accidents together with suicide and murder and we do a very good job
with that. Addressing any related
firearms is a part of that job.
I used to be driving round yesterday and heard on MPR that you could be
be planning to introduce legislature to toughen gun legal guidelines primarily based on the current
tragic occasions. I encourage you to do
this and have written extensively about this situation and the encircling
politics. It’s fairly unbelievable that
nothing is ever executed to deal with the issue solely as a result of we’ve got a celebration that
helps gun extremism. I supply some
posts off my weblog to provide you obligatory information when you want it.
The primary appears on the situation of permissive gun legal guidelines and the way
they have an effect on the gun demise price of youngsters and adolescents. Firearm deaths are the primary reason for
preventable deaths on this age group and the US is the one high-income
nation the place that is true. Within the research
I reviewed, Minnesota is assessed as a state with intermediate permissiveness
when it comes to gun legal guidelines. In states on this class
there have been 1,424 extra firearm deaths.
States in essentially the most permissive class had 6,029 extra firearm deaths. I’ve a desk on this submit that compares Illinois,
Minnesota, and Wisconsin as examples of strict, permissive, and most permissive
gun regulation states:
https://real-psychiatry.blogspot.com/2025/06/pediatric-deaths-from-firearms.html
In a second submit I tackle the difficulty of possible and unlikely causes
of mass shootings. There may be at all times loads
of excuse making by gun extremists when these occasions happen. Just lately that has included blaming psychological
sicknesses and even psychiatric therapies.
As an skilled in treating aggression and violence I can attest to the
undeniable fact that psychiatric therapy doesn’t trigger aggression. Past that I might invite you to have a look at the
information on this submit clearly illustrating that the key variable in mass
shootings is gun density. International locations
utilizing the identical variety of antidepressants or extra bracket the US within the first
desk and neither nation has mass shootings and nowhere close to the variety of gun
suicides or homicides. Even contemplating psychological sickness as a danger issue, individuals
with that drawback do worse within the US resulting from firearm availability.
https://real-psychiatry.blogspot.com/2023/03/likely-and-unlikely-causes-of-mass.html
And at last, I’ve a number of posts about gun extremism within the
US and the way it has advanced through the years.
We’ve gone from 19th century native ordinances that require
checking your firearms on the metropolis limits to permitless hid carry of a lot
extra lethal trendy firearms. And all of
that’s because the social gathering pushing this agenda has no practical insurance policies that
would enchantment to the voters. Actually,
in one in every of my posts I level out that the identical social gathering that pushes gun extremism
has pushed political violence.
Gun Extremism Not Psychological Sickness: https://real-psychiatry.blogspot.com/2022/05/gun-extremism-not-mental-illness.html
Mass Shooters – The American Gun Extremist Superman: https://real-psychiatry.blogspot.com/2024/08/mass-shooters-american-gun-extremist.html
One other Notice on Gun Extremism – An Enchantment to Grandparents: https://real-psychiatry.blogspot.com/2023/01/another-note-on-gun-extremism-appeal-to.html
Present Political Violence In The USA: https://real-psychiatry.blogspot.com/2024/10/current-political-violence-in-usa.html
You could find extra posts on my weblog by looking weapons,
firearms, or gun extremism. Good luck together with your efforts to make Minnesota a
safer place for all of us.
Sincerely,
George Dawson, MD, DFAPA
Extra Data: I despatched comparable notes to each US Senators from Minnesota.
Picture Credit score: I took this shot of the group on the Minnesota State Truthful on August 26, 2025.