PAUL STANLEY Dismisses 'Mental Illness' Argument When It Comes To Frequent Mass Shootings In U.S.

Paul Stanley says that "mental illness" isn't the reason mass shootings are disproportionately common in the United States Of America when compared to similar countries around the world.

The 70-year-old KISS frontman made his comments in the wake of Tuesday's mass shooting in a Uvalde, Texas elementary school which resulted in the deaths of at least 19 children and two adults.

On Wednesday, Stanley took to his Twitter to write: "Please Explain… We are the only country on earth that endures frequent mass shootings. It can't be a matter of mental illness since every country has that as a factor. The founding fathers referred to rifles with muskets and single shot revolvers, not automatic weapons whose purpose is only to decimate. If guns have been updated, shouldn't we update the laws governing them? I'm asking for thoughts and opinions, not rudeness or stupidity."

Earlier today, Paul added: "Discussions like these need to happen but the analogies of cars etc. killing people are poor ones. The types of weapons that are being questioned were designed SPECIFICALLY to kill in large numbers and inflict irreparable destruction to the human body. Cars? Rocks? SPOONS?? No."

Two days ago, Democratic U.S. Senator Chris Murphy implored his colleagues to act to combat gun violence hours, dismissing a common Republican argument that we need to do a better job with mental health.

"Spare me the bullshit about mental illness," Murphy said. "We don't have any more mental illness than any other country in the world. You cannot explain this through a prism of mental illness because we're not an outlier on mental illness. ... We're an outlier when it comes to access to firearms and the ability of criminals and very sick people to get their arms on firearms. That's what makes America different."

Tuesday's massacre came only 10 days after an 18-year-old gunman in body armor killed 10 shoppers and workers at a supermarket in a predominantly black area of Buffalo, New York.

According to CNN, the number of U.S. deaths from gun violence in 2019 was about 4 per 100,000 people. That's 18 times the average rate in other developed countries. Multiple studies show access to guns contributes to higher firearm-related homicide rates.

The United States has already seen more than 200 mass shootings in 2022, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

Between 1966 and 2019, 77% of all mass shooters in the U.S. used weapons they had obtained through legal purchases, according to a survey compiled by the National Institute of Justice.

Various studies have shown that more gun control will result in fewer gun deaths. After a mass shooting that killed 35 people in 1996, Australia imposed strict gun ownership measures and outright bans on semi-automatic and automatic weapons. Since the laws were passed, there has been only one mass shooting, a case in which a grandfather killed family members and then himself.

Gun laws are far stricter in other countries. In Germany, anyone under the age of 25 who wants to buy a gun needs to undergo a psychiatric evaluation, while In Japan, owning a handgun is illegal for private citizens.

The majority of Americans support stricter gun laws, especially in the aftermath of deadly school shootings.