I know there is a lot of mental issues in our country, but when they say that a mass murder......

[imanamerican63]

who drives 10 hours to attack innocent people who are going about their daily lives, is a case of mental illness! NO! That is premeditated and he knew what he was doing! No, the voices didn't tell him to pull the trigger! He knew what would happen when did! No, the video games didn't make it real! He had a plan and followed it through.

Call me cynical, but I think the GOPers are hiding from the fact that it not an excuse for the senseless killing of ordinary people by military style weapons.

And, a side note! Kelleyanne, once again, you are wrong! The man in Dayton was a mass murder too! We all feel the pain, no matter what their political ideology is or was! We know that it was wrong! Your boss and many of you blamed Obama and claimed it was it fault when any shootings happened while he was in office. But there was a difference between him and Trump. Obama was a president and consoler! Trump is moron who stumbles his way thru every tragic events under his watch.

[onecaliberal]

1. Yup. Premeditated. He cases the store before he went back with his war weapons.

[BootinUp]

2. They've run out of strategies and ideas. Nt

[emmaverybo]

3. Certainly he's pathological at some level, but that fact does not take away from America's need

to enact sensible gun control and regulation yesterday.

GOP is ascribing cause to mental illness when the outcome, mass slaughter, regardless of mental state, can only be put down to the type of weapon he used.

Emotionally disturbed people and thugs alike commit an overwhelming number of knife crimes in England. But it is clear that a knife no matter how expertly wielded can not kill and wound so many victims in so little time, which is why those intent on mass murder choose an assault weapon.

[FBaggins]

4. Premeditation does not rule out a mental disorder

Surely the cases we’ve seen lately manifest “severe antisocial attitudes and behavior” and a complete lack of a conscience or empathy... no?

They have a new label for what used to be called a sociopath... but it’s still a disorder whether he hears voices or not.

[mr_lebowski]

6. I have a mental disorder ... I'm an alcoholic ... does this excuse me for committing mass murder?

The legal exception for mental illness when committing crimes is predicated on the idea that person is too sick to really know/understand what they're doing.

By no means is it the case that even most (let alone all) people with some form of mental disorder ... don't understand right and wrong.

The burden of proof for someone being too mentally ill to be fairly tried for a crime is extremely high, and very few people convince juries/judges that they really are. Such conditions are fairly rare in truth.

'Being a sociopath' doesn't really even get close to meeting the criteria for an insanity defense. In fact it's pretty much expected that a large majority of murderers are sociopaths to some degree.

It's no excuse whatsoever.

[PandoraAwakened]

7. Yes, this

Thank you for taking the time to write this. Saves me the time of doing the same. Unsure why anyone would even posture an opinion on this topic without first understanding the LAW on the matter, as you have succinctly outlined.

[FBaggins]

8. I haven't seen anyone suggest that it's an excuse

Nor that the shooters should qualify as "not guilty by reason of insanity"

If you have a mental disorder (like many millions of people), you surely know that they come in all shapes and sizes. No?

[GulfCoast66]

5. The first time I hear then saying the 911 attacks were caused my mental illness

I will take them seriously!

People have killed for ideology since we were people. It’s the human condition.

Belief in something enough you will kill and die for it is as old as human written history. I’m sure it predates that by millennium.

The Waffen SS were incredible killers. Anyone in America going to claim they were insane?

The key to a better society is realizing that and finding a way to put it behind us. How we do that is what I don’t know.