Gun-violence apologists shift blame to mental illness to avoid condemning firearms

Evidence

Affirming a constitutional gun right cannot entirely eliminate moral qualms about the bodies of little children ripped apart by bullets. The mode of moral disengagement that does heavy duty—attribution of blame—shifts the focus from unjustifiable lethal firearms to the mental health of the gunman and the inadequacy of mental health services of the nation. Causal analysis, which severs agents from their means of action, has a long history in the justification of gun violence. It goes back to the causal cliché that people, not guns, kill people. This disjointed view of causation continues to be recited. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 1269

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Cooper’s social-conservatism argument and vault claims about how ordinary people rationalize supporting harmful policy through scapegoating out-groups. — connects to: Mental illness is not a major driver of extremism on its own — Ryan Andrew Brown, Todd C. Helmus, Rajeev Ramchand, Alina I. Palimaru, Sarah Weilant, Ashley L. Rhoades, and Liisa Hiatt (RAND Corporation), Violent Extremism in America:…, 150
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm…, 1269