A recent shooting at Fort Hood in Texas left three dead and 16 wounded before the shooter turned the gun on himself, fueling a debate on gun control and mental health on military bases.
Specialist Ivan Lopez bought a .45 caliber handgun before bringing the weapon onto the base, violating military protocol because the weapon was not registered there. This brings to question the validity and safety of security measures where 50,000 people work if the shooter was able to bring an unauthorized weapon onto the base.
Some claim if the other soldiers on bases were able to carry defensive weapons then an escalation could have been prevented. Others say an increased presence of weapons on military bases would cause an overwhelming surge in the number of shootings occuring between soldiers as the result of minor arguments.
A decision on whether or not soldiers should be able to carry defensive weapons on military bases will prevent a similar situation in the future the problem is rooted below the surface-level debate of weapon possession. The problem is found in the mental health screenings before people join the military and the amount of mental health care available to soldiers on base.
Lopez was undergoing evaluation for post-traumatic stress disorder and treatment for depression and anxiety, and he never even saw combat when he was deployed to Iraq. Just imagine what combat soldiers must experience. Some have been deployed multiple times. What people do not realize is how greatly being deployed multiple times affects soldiers mentally.
Right now, services for mental health care are seen as a last resort option. It is more of a reactive system that only addresses dire cases and lets many mental health problems go unnoticed. Yes, the current system may be able to a soldier who seeks out help after a serious problem has arisen. Unfortunately, the reactive mental health system is a bit too late for Lopez. If we want to help prevent a military base shooting in the future, mental health care needs to be re-evaluated and reformatted to include regular screenings and a personalized counseling system.
It is time to break the stigma of mental health problems in the military and start taking action before another crisis occurs. This is the second shooting at Fort Hood, and that’s two too many. Pre-screening mental health exams should be able to target individuals who are risks, and provide on-site counselors that are applicable to individualized needs.
I am tired of reading the news and seeing another shooting incident flood the pages. War is a highly stressful environment, and rather than focus on the back-and-forth debate of gun control, focus on making sure the soldiers holding the guns have a healthy and stable state of mind.