Can psychiatry contribute to gun control?

Gun control legislation is essentially a law enforcement matter and a political device to reduce violent crime; only secondarily a psychiatric concern. It is a volatile issue among citizens and legislators alike. The position of forensic psychiatry toward violent crime has been largely peripheral, since only a minute number of homicides where insanity is pled (about I percent) involves psychiatrists. Nevertheless, gun control and its psychologic implications dip into the very fabric of the social psyche. Because forensic psychiatry is an important part of social psychiatry, intrusion into this area need occasion no more fear of criticism than we are now experiencing from some sectors of the public and legal profession.