The National Alliance on Mental Illness states that its mission is "advocacy, education, support and public awareness so that all individuals and families affected by mental illness can build better lives."
That's a laudable goal, and for the most part NAMI has stayed away from the gun control debate, though the national group does back "laws that help incentivize or enforce safe gun storage" and Extreme Risk Protection Order laws that "focus on specific, current behaviors and evidence-based risk factors for violence," in addition to backing federal research to "understand the causes and effects of gun violence in the U.S., including self-directed violence."
Still, NAMI hasn't taken any position on gun bans, magazine bans, gun-rationing laws, gun-free zones, or many other measures supported by the gun control lobby. The Minnesota chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, however, is now wading headlong into the gun control debate in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, and is siding with Gov. Tim Walz in calling for a ban on so-called assault weapons and large capacity magazines.
It's truly a shame that non-profit organizations like NAMI Minnesota, which have done so much good for so many people, have wandered this far out of their lane into partisan gun control politics. pic.twitter.com/aSoQloTLcM
— MN Gun Owners Caucus (@mnguncaucus) December 17, 2025
In a statement on X, NAMI Minnesota declared "Violence by semiautomatic military-style assault weapons and large capacity magazines has a profound impact on human beings’ mental health." That's a decidedly odd phrasing, given that violent acts aren't committed by inanimate objects. And while it's undoubtably true that violence committed by someone using an AR-15 or a large capacity magazine has a profound impact on survivors' mental health, that's equally true of violence committed by someone using a semi-automatic pistol, revolver, knife, hammer, shovel, or any other implement.
At a national level, NAMI has typically responded to high-profile shootings by noting that the vast majority of violence is not perpetrated by people with mental illness, and that the vast majority of people diagnosed with mental illness are not inherently violent. NAMI has also used those high-profile shootings to call for greater access to mental health care, claiming its easier to get a gun than it is to get mental health care... which, honestly, is probably true in a lot of places.
In Minnesota, for instance, "80% of counties qualify as mental health provider shortage areas, according to the Health Resources and Services Administration," and the number of hospitals with outpatient psychiatric and detoxification services in rural parts of the state have dropped by 11% since 2013.
NAMI's Minnesota chapter should be working to address that critical shortage of mental health care, not stumping for Gov. Tim Walz's demands for lawmakers to pass a gun ban bill that hasn't even been introduced in the legislature or detailed by the governor himself.
MN Gun Owners Law Center head Rob Doar spoke movingly on X about a webinar he co-hosted in 2020 with Sue Abderholden, then the executive director of NAMI Minnesota, where the pair discussed mental health, firearms access, and how to recognize and support loved ones in crisis. The webinar was attended by hundreds of people, and Doar said it was received positively by many MN Gun Owners Caucus members.
The conversation wasn’t about government mandates or policy fights. It was practical and human—focused on strategies people could actually use to help the people around them.
Sue was a genuine leader. She never shied away from difficult conversations and was willing to work with uncommon allies when goals overlapped.
Under its new director, Marcus Schmit—a former Tim Walz staffer and appointee—the organization has taken a different direction, aligning with partisan agendas and blocking even the mildest criticism.
That isn’t just a change in tone or leadership style. It is a repudiation of what Sue stood for. The openness, independence, and willingness to engage across lines that defined her tenure have been discarded, and with them, her legacy.
As Doar alluded, NAMI Minnesota has been blocking anyone who dares to criticize its newfound support for Walz's proposed gun ban. If Schmit has decided to burn the bridges between advocates for mental health and the Second Amendment community that's his call, but I wonder how many of NAMI Minnesota's board members agree with the decision to stray far beyond the organization's stated mission... and if any of them will be bothered enough to step away from the group because of it.
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