Finnish researchers have discovered a link between an increased rate of committing homicide and the use of drugs that affect the central nervous system (CNS). Use of tranquilizing benzodiazepines and painkillers carries the highest association with committing homicide, while there was only a slightly greater risk for users of anti-depressants.
Observing recent shootings such as the tragic events of Isla Vista at the University of California, Santa Barbara this past Spring, researchers and lawmakers alike have begun looking into limitations on the right to bear arms. But with media influencing the public perception of gun-violence in the United States, and pro-gun lobbyists defending the second amendment and their Constitutional rights, lawmakers are forced to question the role that mental illness plays in these mass killings.
