The assassination of political activist Charlie Kirk by a rogue gunman led to renewed calls on both sides of the aisle to quell gun violence.
As a Harvard graduate who has a severe mental illness and a felony arrest record, I believe my academic qualifications and lived experience are well-suited to examine this issue.
One theory of human action states that an actor needs: (1) motivation, (2) ability and (3) opportunity. For example, Republicans blame (1) mental illness, Democrats blame (2) access to guns, and independents blame (3) absent law enforcement. Put together, these define a shooter as a (1) homicidal maniac who (2) brandishes a loaded gun and (3) eludes the police.
How is this theory put into practice? By a psychological test to screen homicidal individuals: the Sheehan Homicidality Tracking Scale (S-HTS).
If (1) the buyer fails the test, then (2) the seller is alerted not to do business and (3) the local precinct is notified to detain this person of interest. Thus, a potential killer’s (1) motivation, (2) ability and (3) opportunity are stymied.
But isn’t a psychological test subjective? No. It uses standardized protocols, structured questions and statistical scoring to ensure unbiased results that are compared against established norms, not a personal opinion. We already have psychological tests for employment decisions. Why not one for gun ownership, where the stakes are much higher?
But isn’t a psychological test unconstitutional? In District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), the Supreme Court continued its ban on guns for the mentally ill and felons. If “crazies” and “criminals” enjoyed the right to bear arms like everyone else, our society would be in chaos. After all, would you want me running amok with a pistol in my hand?
But what about suicides? By a 2023 estimate, 58% of gun violence was suicides, 38% were homicides. The Sheehan-Suicidality Tracking Scale (S-STS) addresses this. A hybrid S-HTS/S-STS test can protect suicidal test-takers from themselves. I myself am the survivor of two suicide attempts. Fortunately, I did not own a gun, otherwise I would be a statistic.
A major source of illegal street guns is the “straw purchase,” where someone unable or unwilling to buy a gun gets someone else to do so. A few additional questions to the H-STS/S-STS can ward off potential enablers by identifying surreptitious motives in their purchase decisions.
How about school shootings? Consider this. After detecting online leakage, (1) commit the youth to treatment, to counter mental illness, (2) confiscate the guns from home, to counter access to guns, and (3) criminalize the parents, to counter absent law enforcement. The three parts to a shooter’s behavior — (1) motivation, (2) ability and (3) opportunity — are stymied.
But why replace the current NICS system? A massive three-part database linking names to involuntary commitments and criminal records, the NICS prevented many unlawful gun buys. However, millions of state and local records did not make it to the federal database, and even “FIX NICS” could not turn this Swiss cheese into an impregnable shield. We need something new.
However much the gunman acted out of senseless violence, Charlie Kirk will not die in vain. I am a Democrat, and Kirk was a Republican, but our American democracy works through open dialogue and debate, not at gunpoint. It is in that spirit that I pen this piece in honor of Kirk’s memory.
This article originally was published in the Trib Live digital newspaper on Wednesday, September 24, 2025.
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