I hope they both decline too. I don't want anyone to face violence of any kind in society, political or otherwise. It's why I have advocated so fiercely for gun safety reforms, greater expansion of mental healthcare services, wrap-around and social support services for those in need, and on. I only wish the Republican Party would do the same. I'm going to take this conversation into a different direction below and hone in on a few different things.
We often hear Republicans talking about mental healthcare after there is an act of mass violence, yet no action ever seems to be done in Republican states or when they have control of the federal government to expand mental healthcare services. Take Trump and the Republicans in DC for example. They have spent over a decade trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act and the Medicaid expansion that comes along with it. If you repeal the ACA you will essentially be throwing millions off their healthcare coverage and making it criminally expensive for millions more, to the point they may, well lose coverage to affordability-related issues.
The Republican Party and Donald Trump have not develop a clear and implementable plan to replace the ACA and ensure people don't lose coverage. Included in the coverage that real life people will lose is access to mental healthcare and psychiatric services. Medicaid currently covers mental healthcare. As do ACA subsidies on healthcare plans that people currently have. The Republican Party proports to care about mental healthcare, but is actively taking away mental healthcare services from people who need them most or may need them in the future.
One of the reasons (not the only reason) that people commit mass acts of violence and gun violence, is because they are experiencing a mental health crisis or issue of some kind. They have an underlying mental health problem that has gone unaddressed or not been properly addressed. If you take away healthcare coverage by getting rid of Medicaid for millions of people, reducing what Medicaid coverages, or by cutting the ACA subsidies, you're going to exacerbate the problem of mental health. You are also potentially making the issue of violent incidents and outbursts worst because you are taking away help from people who may be most in need of it. Now I understand you can't blame every violent incident or mass act of violence or gun violence on someone's mental healthcare. There are a host of other factors at play, including a person's own responsibilities for their actions.
We have our own real world example here in the State of Michigan as well. Governor John Engler and Republicans in Lansing gutted mental healthcare in the State of Michigan and made the problem actively worse in the 1990s and early 2000s. Between 1991 and about 2003, under Engler and the Republicans watch, Michigan closed seven state psychiatric hospitals for adults with serious mental illness, and five for children with emotional disturbances. Engler promoted redirecting funding from large state institutions into community mental health services, outpatient care, smaller group homes, etc.
In 1993 community hospitals had about 3,041 adult psychiatric beds and 729 child/adolescent beds, by 2017 those numbers had declined to about 2,197 adult beds and 276 child/adolescent beds. Beyond numbers and policy, the human cost has been real: suffering, untreated illness, families under strain, people cycling through homelessness or incarceration, loss of dignity. You also had many who went to jail and the prison system became the "mental healthcare system" for those individuals because they resorted to crime or violent actions when they were not properly treated for their brain health issue.