The same day he joined other members of Congress to introduce the Assault Weapons Ban of 2013, Sen. Blumenthal announced a proposal for mental health legislation as well, also in response to the Newtown Massacre.
Blumenthal, along with Sens. Mark Begich (D-AK) and Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), introduced The Mental Health First Aid Act to improve effectiveness of and access to mental health care. The proposed legislation would fund mental health first aid training programs for school officials, law enforcement, first responders, veterans, nurses, and others who may need to provide those services.
“Gunmen responsible for mass shootings highlight how mental illness can cause carnage and killing,” said Sen. Blumenthal in a statement. “We need to identify and treat people suffering from mental illness before they damage or destroy other lives.”
A similar version of this bill introduced in the past drew bipartisan support. Several senators from both sides of the aisle voiced their support for this legislation, especially in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Shooting.
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4 Responses to Sen. Blumenthal Introduces Mental Health Legislation
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Whoa…be careful there, Blumey….you might want to read all of the Affordable Health Care Act(aka..Obama Care) no matter how many pages it is before you step on the toes of your Superior…
Who is going to introduce legislation that bans abortions? They have killed an estimated 55 million unborn babies in the last 40 years. How about legislation that protects the thousands who are gunned down in our city streets with illegal handguns?
Crickets from the left. Hypocrites all.
I concur with ‘Connecticut is dying too’, this mental health bill might prevent future massacres, but what we really need are large-scale changes.
While everyone gravitates to the “low hanging fruit” of guns and video games, people completely ignore the complete dysfunction of our state’s child welfare agencies and “family court” systems – which very often perpetuate and promote the very abuse they are tasked with trying to prevent.
While everyone calls for “greater access to mental health services” – completely ignored is the fact that the entire industry has been co-opted by corrupt family court Guardian ad Litems who funnel 90% of the business a typical therapist in this state gets to them.
All to perform cursory and “junk therapy” for the family court – as the court violates every aspect of a parent’s civil, human and parental – and completely ignores what is in the actual best interests of children and families. THIS issue – is what the state legislators need to focus on and immediately address to effective work to prevent any future events such as what happened in Newtown.
The divorce industry – the lobby that our legislators need to most worry about.