Regardless of whether you believe in gun control, there is a widespread belief that mental illness is behind mass shootings. After all, who but a crazy person would start killing people, ashappened Thursday at Oregon’s Umpqua Community College?
Some researchers believe that the link between mental illness and mass shootings is tenuous. They note that the vast majority of the mentally ill don’t exhibit violent tendencies, and even among mass shooters only a minority exhibited signs of extreme mental distress.
Posted by The NON-Conformist
TheConfirmationFiles 
I think you hit the nail on the head. People want to distance themselves from someone who could do such a horrible thing, so they blame mental illness or some other factor. I hear it all the time – “Only a crazy person would do such a thing.” But the truth is, the majority of “crazy people” are not violent and are just as horrified by the violence. It’s not that different from current anti-Muslim sentiment either.
Well said Sarah!