Ask SciCheck Files: The Relationship Between Mental Health and Mass Shootings

In the wake of mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas, some officials have cited mental illness as a reason for the unprovoked attacks. But as we’ve explained before, having a mental illness isn’t predictive of who will perpetrate a mass shooting.

Back in 2019, we answered a reader question about the relationship between mental illness and mass murder, following two mass shootings in Texas and another in Ohio. At the time, then-President Donald Trump suggested mental illness was one of the primary culprits. “Mental illness and hatred pulls the...