Letter: Stigmatizing illness

What is the definition of "crazy," a derogatory term used by gun-loving Republicans when deflecting from death by guns? I thought Republicans recently and miraculously just now became concerned with and developed great empathy for those who have no-fault biological brain illnesses. And yet they refer to someone with this illness as "crazy."

Isn't "crazy" just an uninformed person's way of describing the symptoms displayed by someone who has a mental illness? If Republicans are going to blame gun deaths on the mentally ill, why are they the first to cut funding for services for those who suffer and the first to stigmatize these folks by calling them crazy?

Louis S. Guagenti

Arlington Heights