GOP Rep. Mo Brooks: Mass Shootings Caused By Declines In ‘Moral Values,’ ‘Respect For Human Life’

Republican Alabama Congressman and Senate candidate Mo Brooks said that mass shootings across the United States are due to a decline in moral values and respect for human life.

Appearing as a guest on “Fox News Sunday,” Brooks said that such tragedies were not as prevalent when he was growing up but have become more common. He pointed to changing priorities and structures of American families, which he says have led to poorer outcomes for children that often lead to criminal activity.

“Now back when I was growing up, we didn’t have these mass killings,” Brooks said. “They weren’t there, they didn’t occur. Or if they did, I certainly was not cognizant of them and they were very, very, very rare, so rare that I cannot recall a single instance in which one of those things occurred in my youth. Today they’re much more common. What’s the big difference between when I was growing up and today? The big difference is a decline in the moral values, a decline in the respect for human life. If we teach proper moral values, if we teach respect for human life, if we properly address mental health issues that may somehow or another be associated with all those things, then that is the way to fix the problem.”

Host Sandra Smith then referenced a previous statement from Brooks when he blamed left-wing social policies that encouraged childbirth out-of-wedlock, single-parent households, and divorce.

“Does that statement, sir, unfairly blame single-parent households in this country for the rise of mass shootings?” Smith asked.

“Absolutely not,” Brooks replied. “All of the studies I’ve ever seen suggest that children who are raised with just one parent around, they don’t do as well by the time they become adults. Why? Because it’s almost impossible for a single parent to do the kind of job that two parents, collectively, can do.”

“Unfortunately, the data is very clear,” he continued. ” Those single-parent households, for whatever reason, end up resulting in children who are more likely to be on welfare, who are less likely to get the kind of grades you expect to get in school, who are more likely, who are more likely to be involved in drugs, and unfortunately, are more likely to be involved in criminal conduct.”