Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting survivor turned gun control activist David Hogg seems to think he has all the answers, especially when it comes to mass shootings in America.
During an interview with MSNBC's Chris Hayes, Hogg blamed the National Rifle Association and pro-Second Amendment politicians for mass shootings. Hogg believes it's pro-gun advocates' fault for saying there's a problem with mental health in our nation.
"There's stigmatization of mental health and what doesn't help that is when NRA-backed politicians go out and use mental health as a talking point, when they don't want to say, when essentially they're racially profiling white mass shooters and saying, 'Oh, they weren't a criminal. They weren't a terrorist. They weren't illegal. They were mentally ill. Oh, what could have possibly caused this?'" Hogg explained. "And that's not helpful at all because if we're only talking about mental health after someone picks up a gun and does something horrible, we're only stigmatizing it more."
According to Hogg, we need to talk about what it "really means to be a man."
"Men are taking disproportionality by suicides, predominantly in rural and suburban areas. The real strength in being a man is having the courage to actually talk about what's affecting you and not bottling it up in the first place," Hogg said.
WATCH: @davidhogg111 on the stigmatization of mental health: “If we’re only talking about mental health after someone picks up a gun and does something horrible, we’re only stigmatizing it more.“ #inners pic.twitter.com/T5DV0bavVz
— All In w/Chris Hayes (@allinwithchris) September 7, 2019
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What Hogg fails to understand that two main issues come into play when talking about mass shootings: mental health and law enforcement agencies dropping the ball.
What do most of these mass shooters have in common? Quite a few of them have obtained their firearm legally because they didn't have a criminal background. The Thousand Oaks gunman legally purchased the handgun he used during the attack.
And those who shouldn't have had a firearm to begin with did so because law enforcement failures. The Charleston shooter was on probation, making him a prohibited possessor. He was able to legally purchase his firearm because the FBI failed to flag him in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). The shooter at Hogg's high school had been recommended for involuntary admission to a residential treatment facility. But, instead of doing that, authorities opted to putting him in a rehabilitation program.
Talking about the issues with our mental health system and the lack of law enforcement actually enforcing laws is something that needs to be talked about by both sides of the aisle. It's something everyone can agree on.
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