Collegiate Times

Harley Green, a state of Virginia concealed handgun permit holder from Centreville, shows his support for guns on campus.

“If you look at the other young men who have committed these massacres, they all seem to have the same thing," McNabb said. "They all seem to have some type of mental health issue and many of them end up committing suicide."

McNabb and others in her community began to notice more problems students were struggling with.

“We had kids suffer from depression, social anxiety and alienation," she said. "So when we looked at all the mental health issues within our own community we decided that’s what we would focus on. So this past summer that’s what we did.”

The group found that in Fairfax County, Va., one-third of high school students were reported to have depression, some of whom had attempted suicide or had thoughts of suicide. They also noticed that students battling these issues had fewer resources at their disposal in community colleges.

“I think the commonwealth, prior to 2007, did not put enough resources into mental health funding," McNabb said. "They did increase the funding after the tragedy, but now we’re back to pre-2007 levels and we can’t do that."

The Angel Fund approached the situation by working with legislators, including Vice President Joe Biden, to implement mental health laws for universities.

Prior the unveiling of Obama's proposals, McNabb prepared a document on behalf of the Angel Fund, asking the administration to provide resources in community colleges for those dealing with mental illness, as well as addressing the lack of funding in the mental health system.

While the administration reviews those regulations, others have concerns regarding Obama’s gun legislation proposed to Congress.

“The legislation he proposed to Congress I completely disagree with," said Eric Smith, president of the Libertarian club. "The assault weapons ban and I’m not as adamantly against the background checks, but I do disagree with those as well.” 

Smith is particularly against an assault weapons ban based on a previous ban issued in 1994. That year, Congress passed a federal assault weapons ban that expired in 2004, which according to the National Institute of Justice, temporarily decreased criminal use of banned guns. Smith also cited the less than 1 percent of crime that is committed with assault weapons in the U.S. 

Smith believes better security and allowing people to be armed would be the best preventive measure. 

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A version of this article appeared in the Jan 23 issue of the Collegiate Times.