DecodeDC

Actions

Fact-checking the link between mental illness and mass shootings

Posted
and last updated

Last Sunday, a gunman walked into a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, and opened fire on the congregation and killed more than two dozen people. The next day, President Donald Trump told reporters the mass shooting wasn’t a “guns situation,” and instead blamed it on “mental health.”

Politicians have linked mental illness and mass shootings again, and again, and again. In this week’s podcast, host Jimmy Williams talks to a journalist who looked into that link … and found that it doesn’t exist. For more on mental illness and violence, check out Olga Khazan’s story at The Atlantic.

,

Weather

Daily Forecast

View Hourly Forecast

Day

Conditions

HI / LO

Precip

Saturday

02/21/2026

Sunny

66° / 39°

0%

Sunday

02/22/2026

Partly Cloudy

68° / 43°

3%

Monday

02/23/2026

Partly Cloudy

69° / 49°

3%

Tuesday

02/24/2026

Partly Cloudy

74° / 53°

2%

Wednesday

02/25/2026

Partly Cloudy

73° / 55°

4%

Thursday

02/26/2026

Partly Cloudy

73° / 55°

12%

Friday

02/27/2026

Mostly Cloudy

73° / 54°

7%

Saturday

02/28/2026

Partly Cloudy

76° / 55°

7%