--- title: Doctors Say Mental Health Is Not to Blame for Mass Shootings description: As politicians blame mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio on mental health issues, doctors say that's the wrong focus. canonical: https://time.com/5644147/mass-shootings-mental-health/ author: Jamie Ducharme article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-08-05T17:22:51.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-13T08:55:57.019Z article:section: Health og:title: Politicians Keep Blaming Mass Shootings on Mental Health Issues. Doctors Say They're Wrong og:description: They want to focus on gun control og:url: https://time.com/5644147/mass-shootings-mental-health/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4f3125a3cb22f137/698a00ed096a94df996a6c39/el-paso-shooting-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Multiple Fatalities In Mass Shooting At Shopping Center In El Paso og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Politicians Keep Blaming Mass Shootings on Mental Health Issues. Doctors Say They're Wrong twitter:description: They want to focus on gun control twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4f3125a3cb22f137/698a00ed096a94df996a6c39/el-paso-shooting-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Politicians Keep Blaming Mass Shootings on Mental Health Issues. Doctors Say They're Wrong > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=323ef298-27ee-4b7a-81aa-a26b33e2445b&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: President Trump Calls for Crackdown on Violent Video Games, Mental Health Reforms After Shootings [Watch (HLS stream): President Trump Calls for Crackdown on Violent Video Games, Mental Health Reforms After Shootings](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/SD1Wb79h.m3u8) (1:46)  _Published 2019-08-05. President Donald Trump called for a crackdown on violent video games and reforms to mental health laws, arguing that “mental illness and hatred pulls the trigger, not the gun,” in a speech after mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio._  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Aug 5, 2019 5:22 PM UTC President Donald Trump called for a crackdown on violent video games and reforms to mental health laws, arguing that “mental illness and hatred pulls the trigger, not the gun,” in a speech after mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio.  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Aug 5, 2019 5:22 PM UTC In his [address to the nation](https://time.com/5644120/donald-trump-el-paso-shooting-speech/) on Monday, President Donald Trump had an explanation for the [pair of mass shootings](https://time.com/5643553/2019-mass-shootings-list/) that shook America in the span of a single weekend. “Mental illness and hatred pulls the trigger,” Trump said. “Not the gun.” That sentiment echoed Trump’s initial Twitter responses to the tragedies in [Dayton, Ohio](https://time.com/5643405/what-to-know-shooting-dayton-ohio/) and [El Paso, Texas](https://time.com/5643110/el-paso-texas-mall-shooting/), as well as comments from [other lawmakers](https://time.com/5643407/2020-democrats-mass-shootings/) and public figures who blamed the shootings, and others before them, on mental illness. But as death tolls climb, doctors across specialties are growing increasingly frustrated by that framing, and arguing for a stronger focus on gun control over mental health. “It’s really just scapegoating people with mental health issues,” says Dr. Seth Trueger, an assistant professor of emergency medicine at Northwestern University. And while rates of mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety and suicidal behavior are on the rise in the U.S., Trueger says other nations have similar problems and experience far fewer mass shootings. “Other countries have the same kind of mental health issues we have, the same kind of [violent video games](https://time.com/5191182/trump-video-games-violence/) we have, the same religiosity that we have. All that stuff is just a distraction” from the need for better gun control, he says. That position is hardly new. [Studies show](https://psychiatryonline.org/doi/pdf/10.5555/appi.books.9781615371099) that [a relatively small percentage](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4318286/) of violent crimes are perpetuated by people with diagnosed mental health issues, and that [gun access](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0091743519300143?via%3Dihub)—not mental health symptoms—is the primary predictor of firearm violence. As a result, an increasingly [large and vocal cadre of doctors](https://time.com/5460036/this-is-our-lane-doctors-guns/) has been arguing for years that gun violence is more an issue of access and regulation than it is mental health. Groups including the [American Academy of Pediatrics](https://www.aap.org/en-us/advocacy-and-policy/federal-advocacy/Pages/AAPFederalGunViolencePreventionRecommendationstoWhiteHouse.aspx) and the [American Medication Association](https://www.ama-assn.org/press-center/ama-statements/ama-responds-tragic-gun-violence-incidents) are active in advocating for stronger gun laws and more widespread violence-prevention programs, and the American Psychological Association [regularly cautions](https://time.com/5162927/mass-shootings-mental-health-apa/) against blaming mass shootings on mental health. “Routinely blaming mass shootings on mental illness is unfounded and stigmatizing,” read a statement the APA issued on Aug. 4, after the Dayton tragedy. “The rates of mental illness are roughly the same around the world, yet other countries are not experiencing these traumatic events as often as we face them. One critical factor is access to, and the lethality of, the weapons that are being used in these crimes. Adding racism, intolerance and bigotry to the mix is a recipe for disaster.” Dr. Jennifer Gunter, a San Francisco-based obstetrician/gynecologist and outspoken medical Twitter personality, was one of many doctors to voice that feeling online, in an effort, she says, to amplify the voices of mental health professionals and emergency medicine doctors on the front lines. “We all have to hold the line. This crisis affects everybody,” Gunter says. “Doctors have no reason to lie to you about this. The only skin doctors have in this game is saving lives.” > [](https://twitter.com/DrJenGunter/status/1158161219582214144) > [](https://twitter.com/DrJeffTemple/status/1158388943878066177) After the shootings, mental health professionals on social media also drew a distinction between white supremacy—[the apparent motive](https://time.com/5643306/el-paso-shooting-hate-crime-investigation/) for the Texas shooting—and mental illness. While it’s easy to reduce any motive for horrific behavior to mental illness, doctors say that can be an over-simplification. Instead, they say, policymakers should focus on removing the firearms that allow individuals to follow through on their plans. > [](https://twitter.com/AbdulElSayed/status/1157991333249912834) When it comes to ending gun violence, improving mental health care and access may be one piece of the puzzle. But Trueger says better firearms regulation and policy should be far more pressing concerns, along with improving scientists’ ability to do research on gun violence as a public-health issue and strategies that could prevent these tragedies. That’s currently difficult, since the [1996 Dickey Amendment](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5993413/) prohibits the use of federal funding to promote gun control. “The perfect analogy is motor vehicles. Driving has gotten remarkably safer over the last number of decades, because we’ve studied it, we funded research for it and we’ve figured out evidence-based policies to make cars and roads safer,” Trueger says. “\[Gun violence requires\] the same kind of approach.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5644147/mass-shootings-mental-health/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5644147/mass-shootings-mental-health/"},"headline":"Politicians Keep Blaming Mass Shootings on Mental Health Issues. 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