Who is "people"?

 If you believe that people need guns to defend themselves against violence, but that psychiatrically disabled people should be banned from having guns, then you believe that psychiatrically disabled people don't deserve to defend ourselves.

If you believe that people need guns to hunt for food, but that psychiatrically disabled people should be banned from having guns, then you believe that psychiatrically disabled people don't deserve to feed ourselves.

If you believe that people need the right to own guns because it's protected by the Constitution, but psychiatrically disabled people should be banned from having guns, then you believe that psychiatrically disabled people don't deserve constitutional rights.

If you believe that banning people from owning guns is a violation of their due process rights, but psychiatrically disabled people should be banned from having guns, then you believe that psychiatrically disabled people don't deserve due process rights.

If you believe that people need guns, but psychiatrically disabled people should be banned from having guns, then you believe that psychiatrically disabled people aren't people.

We are not your weapons

 I know that any time gun violence or gun control are in the news, people like to blame psychiatrically disabled people.

This is your friendly reminder of the following:

96% of violent crime is committed by neurotypical people.

Psychiatrically disabled people are more likely to be the victims of violent crime than the perpetrators of it.

Involuntary commitment has no due process and is a human rights violation.

Putting us on a "national registry" of people disallowed from buying guns hurts us regardless of whether we'd ever want to buy a gun.

Persecuting us (yes, forced drugging counts as persecution even if you say it's "for our own good," national registries are also persecution) will NOT make your lives safer, but it WILL make our lives much less safe.

It's disheartening to know that when most of the people around me, most of my friends, and most of the politicians and political activists I otherwise support talk about "protecting people from violence," they're counting me as "violence" and not as "people."

February challenge

February challenge: Try to avoid using the words "healthy" and "unhealthy." Health is variable and often subjective. Healthism is closely tied to ableism, neurobigotry, sizeism, classism, and other forms of oppression.

If you don't rely on reflexively using "healthy" and "unhealthy," you might need to put some thought into the precise qualities you're trying to describe. For example:

Instead of "Fast food is unhealthy"

try "Most fast food doesn't have enough vitamins or fiber."

Instead of "Honest communication is part of a healthy relationship"

try "Honest communication is part of a mutually satisfying relationship."

Instead of "Snooping through your partner's phone is unhealthy"

try "Snooping through your partner's phone is disrespectful."