No, it’s not because of mental illness.

Example No. 1: In Wisconsin, a young teenager from Chicago crosses the state line armed with an assault rifle, with his mother driving.

Example No. 2: A teenager in New York drives 200 miles to kill at a Tops grocery store in Buffalo, with his AR-15 style semi-automatic rifle.

Example No. 3: An 18-year-old in Uvalde, Texas buys an assault rifle on his birthday. Happy birthday, son. Enjoy your assault rifle.

Is mental illness a problem? Yes. So is cancer, but let’s not use mental illness as an excuse for political inaction. I’m wondering what you see here? I don’t see mental illness here. I see family and community hate that’s being passed on to children (“Hate” Merriam-Webster Dictionary — intense hostility and aversion, usually deriving from fear, anger or sense of injury.) Kids aren’t born with hate. They assimilate it from their families and communities.

Maybe instead of interviewing political people with excuses of mental illnesses the news should be interviewing the parents and communities of the children who have been taught to hate so much. Aren’t they the real problem? Should they be prosecuted as accessories to crime?

Silverthorne