In the wake of yet another mass shooting, some Texas politicians have called for increased mental health services to help prevent the next tragedy.
But experts working in the field warn that there is no fully effective solution to stop these shootings before they happen, with some saying that blaming mental health is a deflection from the fact that gun control is a necessary part of prevention.
"We can do all the things we can to help students, but at the end of the day, if a student has the notion to go shoot up a school and has access to the weapons to do that, I'm not sure any measures that may or may not have taken place would necessarily prevent it," said Jill Cook, the executive director of the American School Counselor Association.
Although Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Wednesday that a "mental health challenge" had played a role in the massacre, the gunman had no known criminal history or mental health issues. And Abbott wasn't alone in pointing to mental health. In the days after the shooting, Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin told News 4 San Antonio that the tragedy may have been prevented if more mental health resources were dedicated to his region.
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