Guns are killing us, not mental illness
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By Former Rep. Tony Coelho (D-Calif.),
When I served in the U.S. House of Representatives, I wrote the Americans with Disabilities Act. Today, I am concerned about efforts to blame mental illness and people with disabilities as a cause for the mass shootings that plague our country.
Leading the erroneous charge is President Trump, who says “mental illness and hatred pulls the trigger” in mass shootings, refers to perpetrators as “mentally ill monsters,” and suggests a solution of “involuntary confinement” for some with mental illness.
But, sadly, this conflation is not limited to President Trump or Republicans. Last week, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, called for “a mental health data base to prevent the dangerously mentally ill from purchasing a firearm.”
It is time to stop repeating this false narrative.
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