Apr 4, 2013 1 min read

Many in Congress and people they represent have insisted that the answer to reducing gun violence is not more gun control, but rather treating the mental illness that leads to it.

President Obama wants to spend $100 million on research to “map the brain,” the better to find and treat mental illness. So, what are the chances that such a bill could make it through Congress? Our guess is that talk about fighting mental illness is cheap, but when it comes down to actually committing money to it, especially when your political nemesis is asking for it, brain-mapping will be portrayed as just another outrageous waste of taxpayers’ money.