Washington — Following is a statement by Thema Bryant, PhD, president of the American Psychological Association, in response to nearly 40 mass shootings in the United States so far this year, including two this week in California:
“The American Psychological Association is outraged by the pervasiveness of gun violence in our nation, culminating most recently with shootings in Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay, California, just days apart from each other. The death toll so far this year is at least 69—almost three people per day so far in 2023.
“The impact of these acts of violence permeates our culture and is especially profound in communities of color. We are experiencing collective trauma and grief as a result of the constant barrage of news reports about mass shootings. Psychological science suggests that these shocking events lead to post-traumatic distress among victims and bystanders and are triggers for those who have experienced similar violent events.
“For many Americans, no place feels safe anymore. Fear of mass shootings has left a large majority of Americans feeling stressed, including a third of adults who say they now avoid certain places and events as a result (Stress in America: Fear of mass shootings, APA, 2019). Experts say the frequency of mass shootings, amplified by our near-constant access to media coverage of such events, amounts to an accumulation of exposure that is harming everyone’s mental health.
“As APA and many other organizations have repeatedly said, gun violence is a public health emergency that requires an urgent public health response.
“While APA applauded the passage last year of the first meaningful gun safety legislation in nearly 30 years, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, more must be done to address this public health crisis. New requirements for background checks, state grants to implement extreme risk protections orders, promotion of safe firearms storage and investment in community-based violence prevention initiatives, along with investments in local crisis response teams and trauma-informed care will only solve part of the problem.
“We demand that Congress keep moving forward, even as we must recognize and address the collective trauma that the steady drumbeat of tragedy is inflicting upon us all.”