DES MOINES, Iowa – Dozens of states have slashed spending on mental health care over the past four years, driven by the recession’s toll on revenue and, in some cases, a new zeal to shrink government.

But that trend may be heading for a U-turn in 2013 after last year’s shooting rampages by two mentally disturbed gunmen.

The reversal is especially jarring in statehouses dominated by conservative Republicans, who aggressively cut welfare programs but now find themselves caught in a crosscurrent of pressures involving gun control, public safety and health care for millions of disadvantaged Americans.