Shootings indicate illness

When a person opens fire on strangers, whatever upset him is not a reason for that action. The reason is that the shooter has become unhinged. To amass guns points to paranoia, and to plan an attack is deranged, whatever the apparent motivation. Mental illness is what the shooters have in common in these horrible incidents of mass shootings.

Mentally healthy people, no matter what religious or political persuasion, do not respond to political or religious ideas by murdering. Yet following each mass shooting is the search for “reason for the rampage,” as if it’s within the realm of reason. Reports point to the inputs – what was he reading, how intense was the political divide – which projects the idea such an action could be the outcome of a heightened level of passion about a principle or a cause. The reasons this is the wrong reaction, include 1. The shooter is examined and in a way becomes notorious. 2. Implicating the input threatens our freedom and presumes we are all mentally unstable.

I believe when asking “what made him do it?” our discussion should include no “reasons” other than psychological disease.

Rebecca Smith

Spokane