Gov: Mental Health Care Also Needed To Prevent Gun Violence

Governor Scott Walker says he hasn’t had time to fully read President Barack Obama’s gun control proposals. The president, on Wednesday (1/16), set forth a list of objectives to deter mass shootings.

At a stop in Green Bay Wednesday, Walker said access to firearms may not be the sole issue in gun violence. He said mental health must also be addressed. He cited the case of a man apprehended at the State Capitol Tuesday. According to the Associated Press, investigators have accused the man of bringing four homemade bombs into the capitol in the hours before Walker delivered his “State of the State” address. “It was a threat: obviously he didn’t have a firearm. Whether it’s another individual here or across the state or in other states where everything from firearms to explosives and other things in general. In each of those cases, unfortunately, a consistent theme is someone who’d fallen through the cracks in the mental health system.”

In the coming weeks, Walker says he will convene a meeting between mental health professionals and law enforcement. The state is home to two recent mass shootings, one in Oak Creek, the other in Brookfield.