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(the following is from psychologytoday.com)At What Age Can We Identify Psychopathy in a Child?It’s always comforting to think that people can change if they’re given the right conditions. If, as the philosopher John Locke suggested, we are all born as “blank slates,” any writing on these slates that occurs early in life should be modifiable. Even renowned psychologist William James felt that personality wasn’t set in stone until we reach age 30. How, then, do we explain the results of new research by University of Michigan’s Rebecca Waller and colleagues (2016) suggesting that early signs of psychopathy can be seen in children as young as two years old?When looking back at the behavior of adults with known antisocial or psychopathic tendencies, people often say that they "saw it coming," citing examples such as bullying other children, abusing family pets, and engaging in petty thievery. However, such theorizing about people is generally done retrospectively. In other words, you know that a person has become antisocial or exhibited psychopathic tendencies as an adult, and that colors the way you remember the person as a child. It’s much more meaningful to predict psychopathy in adulthood moving forward, starting with observations of individuals in childhood and following up to see if those traits develop.To clarify the meaning of psychopathy, most definitions rely on Robert D. Hare’s two-factor model, which distinguishes between Factor 1—the shallow affect, superficial charm, manipulativeness, and lack of empathy—and Factor 2, or the inability to show remorse and the behaviors associated with the socially deviant lifestyle of impulsiveness and criminality. Both of these may become evident in childhood, but how early?To answer this question, Waller and her co-authors took advantage of an unusual data set in which a sample of 731 two-year-olds and their mothers were followed through the age of nine-and-a-half. The researchers focused on what they call Callous-Unemotional (CU) pre-psychopathic behavior of low levels of empathy and guilt, and a general lack of feeling for others. One limitation to the study is that the participants were not representative of the entire socioeconomic scale, as they were from low-income homes and already had a number of risk factors.The Waller team's measure of psychopathy asked the primary parent, the other parent, and teachers to rate the child in question on Deceitful-Callous (DC) behavior to assess both the tendency to lack feelings for others and the tendency to lie. (The CU measures in other, similar studies didn't ask for ratings of deceitfulness.)These were the five items on the DC scale:Child doesn’t seem guilty after misbehaving.Punishment doesn’t change behavior.Child is selfish/won’t share.Child lies.Child is sneaky and tries to get around me.Children’s behavior problems were indicated by items such as getting into fights, destroying toys and other objects, and having temper tantrums.It is important to note that the study design isolated personality from behavioral difficulties, allowing researchers to rule out the fact that kids who get in trouble early in life continue to create problems for themselves when they get older.The findings revealed that by age three, toddlers who were rated high on the DC scale developed into children with significant behavior problems. This prediction was significant above and beyond the effect of earlier behavior predicting later behavior. The mothers' DC ratings of their two-year-olds were enough to predict later behavior problems, and by age three, the DC ratings provided by other caregivers and teachers became reliable predictors as well.It makes sense that the person with primary responsibility for the child would notice problems earlier in a child's life than others. These disruptive behaviors may be written off in two-year-olds by those not as close to them as signs of the “terrible twos,” which, when not outgrown, take on a more serious, if not ominous, quality.The authors believe that their findings can have preventative value because when very young children are identified as being at risk for psychopathy, parents and teachers can take steps to help them develop more positive, prosocial, emotional ways of relating to others. Such interventions need to take place across the board, though. As the authors note, “parental characteristics, attitudes, caregiving practices, and the broader family ecology” (p. 1817) need to be taken into account when identifying risk and then changing the environment to maximize a child's chances of overcoming personality traits destined to lead to problems later in life.The answer to the question of how early you can spot a psychopath appears to be almost as early as children’s personalities begin to emerge—the age of two when it comes to parents, and by the age of three when it comes to others in a child’s life. The good news is that, with this knowledge, interventions can be taken to help alter the course of the child’s development.Whether you believe it's nature or nurture that causes a person to become a psychopath, early recognition of these behavior problems is vital to altering that child’s ultimate path through life. In an earlier paper, a team led by the University of Michigan's Luke Hyde (2016) concluded that parenting style can help children with heritable risk for developing the CU form of early psychopathy.If you’re dealing with adults who display psychopathy, though, it is obviously not possible to rewrite their histories. Maybe psychopaths become that way early in life, but recognizing just how early may help you see them from a slightly more empathic perspective.(the following is from healthyplace.com)While the idea of a psychopathic child may seem like it's out of a movie, a small number of psychopathic children do exist. In fact, psychopaths tend to develop their psychopathic traits before the age of 16. But what is a psychopathic tendency in a child and how can you spot psychopathic behavior in children?Psychopathic ChildrenChildren (those under the age of 18) are not, technically, psychopaths, even if they meet every criteria as psychopathy is only officially diagnosed in adults. However, when psychopathic adults are studied, it's clear that their psychopathic personality and tendencies developed as children and young adults. Some psychopaths even kill before their 18th birthday.Psychopathic Behavior in ChildrenSeveral checklists have been developed to help identify children with psychopathic tendencies. These include Hare's Psychopathy Checklist – Revised; Youth version, the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory (YPI) and the Antisocial Process Screening Device – Self Report (APSD-SR). These three screening devices help to pinpoint the behaviors of psychopathic children.The following are examples of psychopathic behaviors in children as identified by the APSD-SR:Has shallow emotionsBrags about accomplishmentsUses or cons othersTeases other peopleIs charming in insincere waysBecomes angry when correctedThinks he or she is more important than othersBlames others for mistakesGets bored easilyActs without thinkingEngages in risky and dangerous behaviorDoes not plan aheadDoes not show emotionsBreaks promisesDoesn't feel bad or guiltyIs not concerned about the feelings of othersDoesn't keep the same friendsIsn't concerned about schoolworkLies easily and skillfullyEngages in illegal activitiesIt's important to remember that no, single psychopathic behavior indicates that a child is a psychopath but, rather, it's a constellation of traits that indicate psychopathy.Also keep in mind that some of psychopathy is genetic and if a child has psychopathic parents or parents with psychopathic tendencies, the child will have a greater chance of becoming a psychopath him or herself.If You Suspect Your Child Has Psychopathic TendenciesIf you spot psychopathic tendencies in your child and are concerned, you should get help immediately from someone such as a psychologist or psychiatrist who specializes in psychopathy (treatment of psychopaths).While studies have shown that no treatment has helped change the behavior of adult psychopaths, the same has not been true of children with psychopathic tendencies. A therapy known as decompression treatment has shown positive results in helping children with psychopathic behavior. Some specialized institutions offer this treatment but the treatment tends to last a year or more and does not work for everyone.(the following is from newsweek.com)Can children be psychopaths?In many ways, Steven was a typical 7-year-old. He went to school, attended birthday parties and played sports with his classmates and younger brother. Steven (not his real name) wasn’t perfect—he consistently defied his parents and teacher, turning arguments over trifles into battles that would last hours, and he frequently behaved aggressively toward his younger brother. It was difficult for the adults in Steven’s life to manage him, but nothing triggered concerns about his psychological state.Then Steven’s behavior became more alarming. At a cousin’s birthday party, he broke some of the birthday boy’s toys and showed no remorse. His parents hypothesized that he acted out because another child was the center of attention—Steven had always been spiteful toward other children, they said. His teacher observed similar behavior at school; sometimes he would blame other children for his poor performance at games or sports, then would seek revenge when not under a supervisor’s watchful eye. Steven’s behaviors were “predatory,” his teacher said. Eventually, he was referred to a psychologist who determined that the behavior stemmed from callous-unemotional tendencies; these traits manifest themselves in different ways in different children, but callous-unemotional kids show little empathy for others or remorse for their own actions, and they are prone to violence. The traits are also part of a suite of characteristics together called psychopathy.Violent adult psychopaths, the ones who kill without remorse, are both born and made: A person might have had a genetic predisposition for these behaviors, but childhood traumas and a lack of connection to other people bring them out. Which is why, over the past few years, psychologists have been working to develop interventions for children with early signs of psychopathy. The treatments focus on connecting these kids with their peers and parents because those bonds can make a difference between an adult who is a violent offender or simply colder than the average person.In Hollywood, psychopaths are violent, aggressive killers whose hallucinations are accompanied by maniacal cackling. But in real life, psychopathy is a much more nuanced behavioral disorder. A person who has psychopathic disorder (and antisocial personality disorder, a related illness that is considered by some health professionals to be either the same thing as or a subset of psychopathy), tends to be unemotional, manipulative, lacking empathy, overly willing to take risks and/or incapable of understanding punishment. None of these traits alone defines a psychopath, and not all psychopaths become violent criminal offenders; some successful members of society would likely be deemed psychopathic if assessed by a clinician.Researchers fight hard to combat the stigma surrounding the word psychopath. In part, this means figuring out the neurological structures underpinning the behaviors that make adult psychopaths different. Sheilagh Hodgins, a professor of psychology at the University of Montreal, has conducted several experiments using MRIs on the brains of adult psychopaths and found that they are, in fact, hardwired differently—even if they’re not violent. Hodgins found that these people all have abnormal connections between two deep parts of the brain, the posterior cingulate and the insular cortex, which usually help people understand punishment. In one study of preteen boys with callous-unemotional traits, she found similar structures. “This really confirms that there is a neural basis for what we’re observing in terms of behavior, and that we need to take that into account as we try to develop an intervention,” she says. It’s important to note that while researchers have an idea of which neural structures are different in psychopaths, they’re far from identifying all of such structures and pinpointing their roles.The good news is that young brains are highly plastic, so even if a child has a particular neurological structure, he may not have it as an adult. In fact, several studies indicate that not all children who have callous-unemotional traits become adult psychopaths, especially if they’re exposed to the right treatments at a young enough age.David Hawes, a professor of psychology at the University of Sydney in Australia, recently stumbled upon one such treatment when he asked callous-unemotional study participants to play a computer game in which they were taught to recognize emotions in digital human faces—a therapy that had worked for children with autism. The parents were also given a few homework activities and asked to play the game with their child. In many cases, behavioral problems became much less frequent or severe. But the improvement wasn’t because of the computer game—the kids didn’t get any better at recognizing emotions. What happened, Hawes hypothesizes, is that because the treatment got parents and children working together, it changed the way they interacted, giving them a mutual understanding that didn’t involve punishments, or yelling, or resentment on either side. In short, it allowed them to bond.Parents, it turns out, can make or break a psychopath. Often, they will punish children behaving violently or callously, ignorant to the fact that their child’s brain may be hardwired not to understand the punishment. This breeds resentment, making the relationship colder and inspiring a child to act out in more extreme ways, according to Randy Salekin, a psychology professor at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.Most of the therapies that have produced the best results for callous-unemotional children focus on training parents, says Hawes, though he is quick to point out that many of the sample sizes for these studies have been small. These therapies also seem to be more effective when administered earlier in a child’s development. So psychopathy researchers are now pushing for interventions with children at increasingly early ages—sometimes as young as two.The problem, though, is that it’s hard to identify at-risk children at such a young age. Some children start showing signs of psychopathy as early as 15 months. But usually kids don’t get recommended for treatment until they start to behave or socialize in ways that trouble parents or teachers. That, of course, requires someone to notice—and callous-unemotional traits are often found in children who were severely neglected or abused by their parents. “Callousness and unemotional traits could be adaptive for some people,” Salekin says. In other words, the very thing that causes the behaviors could also obscure them from the professionals that could help; some children will grow up with the disorder unaddressed until they are finally recommended to a psychologist after contact with the law, often in their preteen or teen years.Compounding the issue is the fact that checking MRIs for the neural structures of psychopathy doesn’t work for kids, in part because researchers don’t know exactly which structures they’re searching for. Right now, the only thing to do is to look for behavioral abnormalities, such as a lack of empathy and deceitfulness, and that’s not simple. The behavior of kids with autism or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, known as ADHD might be similarly antisocial or lacking in empathy, but their neurological structures are totally different than those of kids with callous-unemotional traits.To isolate exactly what’s going on with a child, a clinician will look at behavioral assessments from a child’s parents and teachers, and administer oral and written tests to identify any characteristics associated with psychopathy. But few of these well-established psychopathy tests are designed for children, so psychologists mostly use them as screening tools, a quick way to weed out children who may have other disorders and treat them appropriately. There’s no standard assessment, and there’s still no test to help researchers understand how severe a disorder may be.This uncertainty is what beguiles researchers. It’s nearly impossible to refine a treatment for an illness that lacks clear definition. But there is, at least, movement in the right direction.After treatment with Hawes, Steven’s behavior improved considerably. He was less aggressive toward his peers; his mother said he seemed to be “maturing,” and noted that he sometimes even displayed caring behaviors toward his sibling. Recently, Steven’s mother told Hawes she saw Steven comforting his younger brother, who was crying after falling off a scooter. “She was really very shocked to see that kind of behavior,” says Hawes. “She thought it was something she would never see from him.”

My discovery: Small children are like fairies - Whose love of shiny objects and need to stop and count grains of salt when poured on the ground is well documented. (according to Dean Winchester - Fairie Expert)At the time - I was a young, single bachelor - more interested in perfecting how kids were made than learning anything about how they were raised or entertained. I thought I was allergic to those not wrapped in a blanket or directly related to me.Through Dickensian hyjinks, I wound up inheriting a pack of toddlers while my super sis escaped to right what had gone so wrong. It was a party - the kids were boiling over from sugar highs and excitement, practically vibrating through the floor.All hell was breaking loose because she did the unthinkable .. the unforgivable..She hired a clown.He loomed behind the sliding glass door, waving. Ready to fill the children’s hearts with … joy. Let's just go with joy. A single red balloon clutched is his clueless left hand.Being a child of the 90’s (and a little brother) I started to whisper in my sisters ear “Hey Georgie! We all flo… “ but was deftly interrupted with a swift elbow to my unsuspecting ribs. She didn't miss a beat, impressive, given she was already multitasking about six different things.Well played sis… motherhood must include Jedi training.She had all but cemented “Better Child Status” the moment little Nomine was born - a name I bestowed on her progeny when he turned two.For a year, all he would say was No! or Mine! … Like he was taught to speak by the most selfish seagull from Finding Nemo. She's my best friend - but there are obligations required of a little brother .. I’d have plenty of other opportunities before the night was over - once my left lung reinflated.The kids voted the evenings main entertainment off the island in a heartbeat… some in absentia, deep from the safety of their hidy holes. One excitable little lad immediately regressed to age zero - his entire vocabulary stuck in his throat as he flew out the room looking for any place to hide.(His mom was lucky she didn't stick around - I honestly think he was terrified enough to try for less than zero. Which just would have been the wrong kind of entertainment for this kind of event - they weren't even serving alcohol.)Super sis waded through the swarm of kids, and swiftly banished Chuckles, then ran out to get - I don't really know what she needed.. Does Target sell clown replacements? …. I do remember the massive trenta Starbucks cup when she came back, so sanity was definately on her checklist.I was left in charge.Lets take moment to let that sink in…The mysteriously aloof, child free, and often misunderstood little brother - who for a few years now had two critical tasks :Bring the same girl to concurrent holiday celebrations - I think my family even tried including lessor holidays, like Arbor Day. When that failed - their consolation prize was my undiagnosed Jennifer addiction helped to provide an odd, Kafkaesque compliance to this seemingly impossible request.Procure redundant supplies of only the finest prepackaged foods (which can be purchased at any gas station in America) for all family functions and holidays. I nailed this one.I was now being entrusted with lifeforms she claimed to care about - for 60 minutes. A whole lot can happen in 60 minutes. Hell, some of these kids were conceived in far, FAR less time.The mantle was passed and she was out the door in less time than my brain could trigger my mouth to object… So yee haw, let's light this candle. I'm either going to shine brightly or burn the place down.F—k.The silver lining of this decree was there were only three more horsemen to watch out for, and thankfully there were other parents available to help me.Then I met the parental braintrust - the elder group of SHE (Small Human Experts) that would save me from perdition…Talk about overselling a disappointment. It's was like finding out Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny didn't exist because of a coke fueled murder suicide.I get along with everybody - but these turned out to be some of the most miserable women I've ever met … They managed to suck the color out of that room within the first 30 seconds. If Angela's Ashes had a chapter on soccer moms - I was living it.In four hours - not one child came over there.Once… a ball rolled over there. You could see the little kid that owned it stop cold, 10 ft away. He look up at them, look down at his ball longingly, then paused. You could almost see his mind form the words “F— it!” as he tore ass out of there.He knew.I watched them mean mug me through their stepford smiles (guys that haven't procreated shouldn't be alone with kids apparently), noticing they weren't actually doing anything but eating biscuits, drinking “tea” (wine) and talking shit - in the most delightful way.They occasionally ventured out of their little hovel to feed, God forbid they forget to eat or remind me what a horrible job I was doing . “Oh Honey” and “"Bless Your Heart” must mean “You Ignorant Dumb Ass” in soccer mom.I heard it quite often.With my sister in Narnia, and the adolescent horde descending on the house demanding entertainment - I pulled down this giant bottle of coins she had on top of the fridge to play a game, pulled deep from my ass, called “Giants Treasure”I got their attention by channeling my inner lunatic - a technique I refined with my nephew ( I'm 7 feet tall - which blows kids minds, especially when I sound like a cross between Batman, Mickey Mouse and crackhead Bobcat Golthwait).With the angry mob pacified (I swear they were multiplying like Gremlins) - I dumped out the coins and had them each get ten quarters a piece (worked out to 80 or so total).Staying in charector and prancing around like a backup dancer - I slowed things down a bit, evoked the spirit of Mister Rogers and explained (created) the rules.I put their initials on each coin, then put them in a bag. I added a nickel, a dime, and a half dollar that I colored with different sharpie, and tossed in 25 pennies.Performing in front of the parental supervision (I'm being generous here) was much like performing in front of those two miserable bastards from The Muppet Show balcony.“That's darling” or "You have to see this” translated to “Look at this asshole ...”. I just assumed between the plastic surgery and joyless existence - their smile muscles had attrophied to resemble an Egyptian mummy; the boxes of pink wine acting as as a sort of an anti-social lubricant.Scary Poppins begrudgingly offered to watch the kids for two minutes, despite their nest being four rooms away with a retaining wall inbetween, and while I had my doubts that motherhood really granted X-Ray vision … I appreciated their sacrifice.With the rules in place, the tribe of children herded into the front of the house, and the coven watching the kids through a windowless wall … I grabbed my bag of kid chum and managed to escape just long enough to hurl the coins into the backyard.(They have this Mister Miagi type yard, about the size of Wrigley Field. You normally have to take your shoes off… It’s the type of Better Homes and Gardens masterpiece you'd see online and think “Ain't no one got time for that shit”. I'm sure they just loved a slew of amped toddlers rampaging through their artisan tall grass looking for the amount of pocket change one might give a hobo.)So I step up and give it my best shot …I belowed from the backyard I am the giant! - fee fie foe fum; the princess accidentally misplaced my treasure (before jetting off to “"find herself” at the Starbucks in Narnia) and I need help recovering it.The gorgons were a few feet away in the kitchen, and whipped around with a pained look - part confusion, part hangover, part anti-depressant fog.Given the confused looks on their overworked faces, I'm fairly confident their “Oh. Wow.” really meant “F—-. You.”. Some language is so universal, even decades of Botox and apathy can't hide it.Pennies were a mystery object - whoever got the most got a small prize, but no points.Colored coins were the Giants favorite - and worth a special reward each. No points.Coins with initials were worth 3 points - 2 for the finder, 1 for the kid whose initials were on the coin.It was chaos encrusted bedlam - but I wanted everyone to get some points, and a few of the kids God given abilities looked questionable.They went completely ape feces over this game, and off they went.It was Hogwarts dark arts level sorcery. In less than 30 seconds, the holding pens were completely cleared out. You could hear a pin drop.It was glorious.I monitored it all from the door, occasionally bellowing giant stereotypes and stomping around.I scooped kids from the yard at random, pressing them flat on the kitchen ceiling (I’d done this a thousand times before with my nephew) before letting them escape.I danced a jig when I got a special coin back.I stayed in charector the whole time, wearing my sister’s stupid Jamaroquai hat, and really put on show.For someone with limited kid exposure - i felt tremendously energized, channeling my inner Maximus to pull out a win.(I did refrain from jumping on the patio table, coin jar held aloft, screaming “Are you not entertained?!” Somehow the story isn't poorer for it.)Occasionally one of the biscuit munching hags would pop her head out the door to “make sure every thing was okay” - which loosely translated to “"just making sure you're not molesting the children. They have school in the morning…”.I got the “non breeder - you have displeased us. For this you will pay a terrible price” look fairly regularly, which I successfully countered with my devilish “I believe the children are the future. Can't you see I'm teaching them well and letting them lead the way?!?Eat a bag of moist dicks…” smile.They stuck to their singular mission - drinking wine and hissing at me if a kid needed something, if I dared to play with one of them or if they gave ran over to give me a hug.Once they saw what I was doing was a big hit - they came outside to watch - peppering me with questions.The Queen wino only acknowledged my existence to determine which mom I stole this idea from, apparently I was raised in a cave by pedo wolves and didn't have an imagination or childhood to draw on.Their stone cold grinch hearts grew 3 sizes (which apparently is MANY sizes less that what's needed to fully exorcize petty, bitchy judgement from a persons being) and they finally started playing with the kids - inbetween drags on those long, thin old lady cigarettes.I just assumed the biscuits and wine were finally gone.Once they got past the “tell me where the bad man touched you” questions and realized the kids were both ecstatic and molestation-free, they softened up a bit and treated me a few microns better - like letting me fetch them an ashtray.This went on for over 3 hrs - with 2 rounds - plenty of time to violently sack the house, viking style, and find suitable prizes. Having a Martha Stewart clone for a sister means your never more than 10 feet away from a cache of kid friendly “"just in-case” stuff.When the wayward princess returned, the alpha dementor skittered over and immediately brought her up to speed. The rest of the coven smirked in the shadows. Apparently “we” handled everything, and the kids were delighted. The footnote being I “helped”.I’m pretty creative … I wanted to wish hateful, evil shit on that pack of day drunk shrews - but I couldn't think of anything life hadn't “blessed” them with already.They made me feel like a modern day Prometheus - chained to his rock, enjoying the morning sun on his face, until hearing those big black wings flapping on the horizon.But they were gone … A freshly summoned taxi spirited them back to Mordor.Bye, Felicias.I did learn something about parenting that day …That I would never subject my kids to this undocumented circle of hell, containing an archetype so indescribably moribund that it would make Dante shit his robes in abject terror - the joyless, elder WASP suburbanite.Kids deserve as much joy as they give - especially at special events where they are the center of attention.In the end, the giant got his treasure back, the children of the village were rewarded and worn out, the princess returned within the hour - reinvigorated with trenta ounces of sanity, and the litches lived to snark another day - with a new story to rewrite and shit all over.The giants true treasure came later - and was a total surprise.My sister had texted a girlfriend to act as cavalry, but didn't tell me. She was fantastic with kids, we’d met once or twice, had amazing chemistry - but she had cold feet about dating - only having recently becoming single.Annoyingly, she proved immune to my charms - my blue steel was more like grey tin.I drove 40 miles, and braved an entire kids birthday party, hoping I might bump into her… on single person orgy night (or whatever my married friends think I’m normally up to)… Well, that and you know … family.She had shown up in the middle of the chaos, right as I was pacifying the swarm and pinning children to a the ceiling. You know - perfectly normal things that happen in every household.She had joined the harpies in their lair, munched their biscuits, drank their wine, and laughed while I made a complete ass of myself. I found out later that my she texted my sister, “Take your time, your brother is insane! lol”…(Which totally explained why super sis got back over twenty minutes early. She likely thought there would be fire trucks out front, paperwork to fill out, bail money to raise…)When the smoke cleared, she emerged from their den smitten - giving me this doe eyed, dreamy gaze that whispered “Heyyyy Giant”.Even from within my Testosterone Fog of Oblivious, I picked up what she was throwing down - the clouds seem to part, the sun stared to shine, and the birds chirped their simple words of encouragement - "Don't f—- it up”.We clumsily shared a piece of leftover cake that can only be described as heavily sweetened Smurf anus - it had zero colors that exist in nature, and looked like a homeless man used it for a pillow.I was enchanted - enough that I forgot to take off that stupid hat or terrorize my older sister. (Which has become a less common occurance as Ive got older.)We ended up talking and laughing about absolutely nothing until 1am.Turned out to be the best cake I've ever had - and the beginning of something truly wonderful.

As a gun owner, can you support extended wait times and background checks to help keep guns from the mentally ill? Do you have any other good ideas to keep our children safe while maintaining your 2nd amendment rights?First, children in the US are statistically safe from mass shootings. The odds of a child being involved in one is about 0.000000135 in a year. Waiting periods alone have shown to have no effect.I’m assuming you mean to say mental health screenings will be added to the background check system in order to keep guns from the mentally ill and that the added time would be to process those screenings. The answer is no, currently this is an impossibility, but if it were made possible it is not feasible, nor do mental health screenings actually have any predictive value. The following has been written for a very similar question:One popular argument is that we should add psychological testing as a criteria for owning a firearm to weed out people with mental illnesses, and some want this test to be applied each time a firearm is purchases as a part of the background check system.There are legal and Constitutional issues with this idea, as well as problems with positive feasible results from such a policy. The legal and Constitutional issues are for the courts to decide and are fairly clear so I won’t go into that, but the evidence is overwhelmingly clear on this topic. In short, there is no way psychological evaluations would be an effective policy to prevent violence.In 2017 there were more than 25,000,000 background checks processed, down from 27,000,000 the previous year. That means we would have to run 25,000,000 evaluations as well. If you really want to degrade the already floundering mental health system tying up clinicians with bureaucratic evaluations is one way to do it, potentially exacerbating the issues that lead to the worst crimes committed with guns. This idea is more likely to make the problem worse, not better, if reducing mass shootings is the goal.We know the evaluations would have to be fairly superficial in order to sustain the inflow of requests. The most popular method of evaluation is the informal interview. Using a superficial single method of evaluation has been shown to be ineffective,Fennig and colleagues (1994) long ago showed that diagnoses derived from clinical interviews alone agreed only about 50% of the time with diagnoses derived from multi-method assessments. In short, our reliance on using one clinician and one source of information (i.e., patient interview) to generate a diagnosis may well create an unreliable and erroneous understanding of the patient.Psychological evaluationIf you want a fairly accurate result you need to use multiple clinicians all using multiple methods. So if two clinicians each use two methods of evaluation that’s about 100,000,000 new appointments a year that serve no purpose in the overall mental health field.Even using multiple clinicians and multiple methods there are still inherent issues with evaluations in general that could lead to abuse and false positives that deny citizens their rights unduly. All ten of the fallacies outlined in this article warrant a read, but this one stands out:Confusing Retrospective & Predictive Accuracy (Switching Conditional Probabilities)Predictive accuracy begins with the individual's test results and asks: What is the likelihood, expressed as a conditional probability, that a person with these results has condition (or ability, aptitude, quality, etc.) X? Retrospective accuracy begins with the condition (or ability, aptitude, quality) X and asks: What is the likelihood, expressed as a conditional probability, that a person who has X will show these test results? Confusing the "directionality'' of the inference (e.g., the likelihood that those who score positive on a hypothetical predictor variable will fall into a specific group versus the likelihood that those in a specific group will score positive on the predictor variable) causes many errors.This mistake of confusing retrospective with predictive accuracy often resembles the affirming the consequent logical fallacy:People with condition X are overwhelmingly likely to have these specific test results.Person Y has these specific test results.Therefore: Person Y is overwhelmingly likely to have condition X.10 Fallacies in Psychological AssessmentOne huge flaw in such evaluations is how incredibly easy it is to lie. Clinicians and patients must have the same goal in mind in order for the evaluation to be effective. The data collected during the interview is completely self-reported. Anecdotally, I have an acquaintance that has a rare form of a disorder that is similar to multiple sclerosis. He has “failed” three psyche evals in order to qualify for disability benefits because he doesn’t want anyone to think he is weak, so he says he is “fine” and lies about his difficulties, something he has done his entire life. Now imagine someone wants to buy a gun. Do you really think they would self-report disqualifying information? This is only made worse with people that have certain kinds of mental illness or disorders such as multiple personality disorders and antisocial personality disorder, which some argue may be risk factors for violent behavior. From 1998 to 2012 around one million people lied intentionally or unintentionally on the background check form 4473 and were denied by the NICS system. Without an instant check of background information the form 4473 would just be a checklist with no verifiable authority. We have no such check for people undergoing a self-reported evaluation.In addition to this, even if we began to run psychiatric evaluations at the time of sale we cannot actually use the results in most states,There are an estimated 3 million living Americans who have been involuntarily committed to mental institutions. The NICS database only contains the names of about 90,000 of these individuals. There are only 17 states that provide information on involuntary commitment for inclusion in the NICS database. Many of the noncompliant states simply have not computerized their records on involuntary commitment. However, a large number of the noncompliant states are also grappling with serious health-information privacy issues and are reluctant to provide the required data to NICS before these issues are resolved.Under the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, mental health records may only be released to medical professionals, health insurance workers and quality-control personnel. Ohio’s attorney general has not yet determined how to gain access to the medical records needed to process CCW applications. Because Ohio has a relatively new CCW law, sheriffs are being asked to assist temporarily in checking courthouse records for involuntary-commitment orders. This exercise is both time-consuming and labor-intensive. It’s also unlikely to produce all of the information needed to verify the accuracy of answers provided on Ohio CCW permit applications.Although federal and state laws establish involuntary commitment as a prohibiting factor for gun purchases, mental health professionals contend that there is no scientific basis for this prohibition.According to Dr. Paul Applebaum, vice president of the American Psychiatric Association (APA), “checking for involuntary commitments…doesn’t make sense because past mental illness does not predict future violence.”Mental Illness And Gun Ownership - Guns & AmmoBecause of HIPPA the information gathered by psychiatric evaluations cannot be used in the NICS system because only medical professionals, health insurance workers, and quality-control personnel can access this information. In addition to that, as Dr. Paul Applebaum points out, these kinds of evaluations, even if they provided accurate results, would not constitute an accurate assessment of potential violent behavior in the future.As a side note, there were 19.8 times more legal transactions processed by the NICS system in 2012 alone than denials from the beginning of the NICS system to 2012. That would point to the success rate of any psychological evaluation system being incredibly low, assuming we had an effective, verifiable psychological evaluation system.For more information on evaluation effectiveness you can see: Is it possible for a psychopath to deceive psychiatrist in order to pass psychological test and consider of being normal, no mental-disorder?Psychological evaluations tied to background checks in order to purchase a firearm would only be effective in degrading the mental health system and would not present any positive benefits.ConclusionI could go on and on about other topics, like ATF budget and personnel issues, or NICS failures, but I think this is enough to explain the situation. We can’t make people submit to the system and those that operate outside the system cannot be controlled. The common claim that mental illness should be a primary factor in approving or denying a sale of a firearm is not only a costly bureaucratic mess, even if we could settle the privacy issues that make it impossible right now, but has no ability to improve the situation. Many people ask, “Why haven’t we made it harder to legally buy a firearm?”. The answer: because it wouldn’t improve anything. Making it more difficult for lawful citizens to legally own firearms doesn’t punish or restrict criminals that do not subscribe to the system. It’s only common sense that targeting people that aren’t the problem won’t fix the problem.For more information on the situation in the US you can see: Fred Lead's answer to Can pro-gunners not understand that a firearms ban is not just what we want, but what's necessary because innocent civilians are dying? They can't prevent shootings, so there's no other option.For more on school shootings: Fred Lead's answer to What should be done about school shootings?