In the U.S., certain groups of children and teens are more likely to die by gunfire than others. Boys accounted for 83 of all gun deaths among children and teens in 2021, while girls accounted for 17. The majority of mass shooters in the study experienced early childhood trauma and exposure to violence at a young age. Every year, more than 3,500 children and teens are shot and killed in the U.S., with about 35 children dying as a result of mass shootings. In 2020 and 2021, guns killed more children than car accidents, formerly the leading cause of death among young people.
Firearms are the second-leading cause of death in children in the United States, after motor vehicle crashes. In the decade ending in 2016, more children died. Psychologists and the FBI are getting a better understanding of the mix of factors that lead some kids to open fire on a classroom. The shooting can be an act of desperation fueled by various factors.
In the school years between 2000 and 2020, there were 11 to 75 shootings with casualties at public and private elementary and secondary schools each year. The number of children and teens killed by gunfire in the U.S. increased 50 between 2019 and 2021, according to a Pew Research Center analysis. Each day, 12 children die from gun violence in America. Guns continue to be the leading cause of death for US children and teens since surpassing car accidents in 2020.
Murder charges brought against the father of a US school shooter have laid down a new marker on the issue of parental responsibility. Gun safety must be a priority for children and teens, as gun violence is the leading cause of death among children and teens in the U.S.
📹 Understanding the mind of a mass shooter
There is a rising epidemic of mass shootings in America. At this point, there’s practically a new one every day. What’s going on?
📹 Video shows #nashville shooter entering #school
Nashville police have released surveillance video showing how a shooter entered a private Christian school before opening fire.
A couple of extra things. First, it’s worth noting that there is no consensus definition of a “mass shooting”. Each organization defines it slightly differently, which can make it difficult to get a well-defined view of this issue. Of course, any definition would be somewhat arbitrary, but some are more broad (for example The Gun Violence Archive defines it as “any incident in which 4 or more shot or killed, not including the shooter”) while others are more narrow (for example, The Violence Project defines it as “a multiple homicide incident in which four or more victims are murdered with firearms—not including the offender(s)—within one event, and at least some of the murders occurred in a public location or locations in close geographical proximity (e.g., a workplace, school, restaurant, or other public settings), and the murders are not attributable to any other underlying criminal activity or commonplace circumstance (armed robbery, criminal competition, insurance fraud, argument, or romantic triangle).” There is no objectively “correct” definition because all of the data is important and paints a larger picture, but it’s worth pointing out the differences. Beyond this, I also wanted to make a correction. I stated at the end of the article that there is evidence that gun buyback programs are effective at reducing gun violence. However, there is far more evidence that these programs have little to no efficacy at reducing homicides, suicides, or mass shootings.
Mental health and poor mental health services are absolutely a factor. When I tried to seek help for my homicidal urges I was abused medically in a psych ward, which only WORSENED my homicidality and made me not want to seek help. I was able to get better on my own after years of hard work, but who the Hell would ever seek help when they know they’ll be treated like an animal?
So, basically, you have an individual who doesn’t fit it, unwanted, unloved. And over time, things build in one’s mind, and you’re right, complex depression leads to suicide. For a person who is socially rejected or feels that way, would find going out in a blaze of “glory” very attractive. Drugs and alcohol abuse surely exacerbates mental and emotional fragmentation.
“People might often wonder about the emotions of the killer; there’s not a lot of emotion other than anger. There’s not much fulfillment for them. The expression of the anger doesn’t really make them feel relief, or feel better about it. What they recognize is that there’s a sense of finality, that this pain of the anger; this pain of the isolation, is going to end, because soon they will be dead.” —Dr. Park Dietz
Personally I think social media is a major problem. No matter what part of the political/racial/gender spectrum you’re on. Social media is increasing radicalism. Be it right or left. Maybe I’m dreaming here but could y’all imagine a whole year where the country would shut off all social media platforms???? For just a year every so often. Maybe that would change people for the better. I’m thinking out loud and I’m sure there is some flaws with my logic.
70% are suicidal but most mass shooters are not mentally ill? Ok I get that suicidality is not a mental illness but it does show severe disturbance.Also, when you consider all of the high profile shooters who did in fact have a history of mental illness or previous and recent contact with mental health care, it is quite high (Columbine, Sandy Hook, Maine, Aurora Theater just off the top of my head).
I am in the southern suburbs of Chicago and I’m scared to go anywhere. I’m tired of politicians blaming something completely different and irrelevant. I am one to speak: I myself have experienced extreme homicidal thoughts previously in life. I felt trapped and after years of hurt, trauma and fear, I was ANGRY. Plans and all. Have I ever acted on it? Absolutely not. I seeked help. Mental illness, homicidal ideation should NOT be demonized as THAT is why it took me years to seek treatment for homicidal ideation. Do you know how HARD it was to have the courage to talk to a professional? Nonetheless about wanting to kill others? If you think it’s scary telling people about suicide, it’s horrifying and extremely dangerous about homicidal ideation. This society encourages people to seek help, but demonizes them and causes them to fear speaking up all while challenging their anger about how they aren’t tough enough to act on things, it’s a rabbit hole you fall down through. You worry about getting your life shut down and you get attacked by healthcare. That you’ll be turned in. This country needs to get a grip. PLEASE. If you are experiencing homicidal ideation, PLEASE reach out. From one recovering homicidal/suicidal person to another, they will not tip the police, they will not hurt you or lock you up. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE tell someone. I promise you speaking up is EXACTLY what they want you to do, I PROMISE they are not going to bash you. YOU ARE HEARD. Recovery takes years, I still see the violent images in my mind but I have not had an actual plan or anything severe in a year and a half.
A sign of personal grevience for the Vegas shooter was presented by the Daily Mail in a 2020 article showcasing what looks like screenshots from a chat log between the perp and an escort in days prior to the shooting. The perp discussed wanting emotional support and how he felt “a lot of people don’t deserve to be alive” as he accuses them of being selfish and “take what they need from (him) and then discard (him)”. This aligns with some speculations that he viewed his then-gf as a “gold digger”, and in an FBI report was known to complain about how casinos no longer treat high-rollers very well. What’s ironic about these comments is that he himself had a history of using people and systems to elevate himself. He was rich through legal loopholes, cheated on his girlfriend repeatedly while engaging in violent, possibly pedophilic fantasies with escorts. Whether the result of a personal grevience, political gain, or delusions. The core factor to all these mass shootings are a lack of empathy for others and an inflated sense of self.
I work as a security officer in a hospital. I spend the majority of my time on duty in a behavioral health unit (BHAC). Working in BHAC, I have been exposed to more violence and had to go “hands on” with more people than in any previous security work. This includes working as a bouncer, patrol officer, airport security, personal protection/workplace violence, and a methadone clinic. Most of the BHAC patients have homicidal/suicidal ideations with whatever mental illness they are experiencing. Even those suffering extreme psychological disorders can plan and carry out violent acts. Some patients are impulsive and simply act out without no forethought. Obviously, not all people with mental illnesses are prone to violence, but violence is common in my experience. A lot of people I deal with are also coping with the use of drugs like meth and alcohol. I’ve also noticed a lot of them have strong religious beliefs as well. The majority of mass shooters said to be suicidal. Is that not a mental health problem? During the time of the AWB mass shooting did decrease, but Columbine also happened. The weapons used were not “assault weapons”, and none had a magazine capacity over 10 rounds. At that point, it was still the deadliest mass shooting. The Virginia Tech shooter used two handguns to kill 32 people if I remember correctly. Most gun deaths in the US are from suicide as you stated. Also, the majority of firearms used in gun deaths are handguns, not “assault weapons”. Most active shooters could have or did pass a background check.
Amerian society and culture is where your fears and horrors come true (If you get the reference, you can make fun of me lol. It’s true though) I also think the people that play a role in pushing a person to such a limit to the point they commit violence should be shamed. A lot of self loathing can come from how society treats you. And American culture loves treating people terribly. Some people are treated poorly TOO OFTEN. A lot more than other people in society
The issue with USA is not that their right wing is crazy, and “if they just behaved better”.. The issue is that society is deeply unjust and no care is given for fixing that. Human uneqaulity brings male agression. This is a know thing. Man ending at short end of stick are violent in every society. See child soliders of Africa, gangs in Sweeden, France rioters. The less chance of “decent” life, the more violent males become. In 21st century USA, people who are “doers” lean more to the right (on average) so shooters ended up being dominantly “right”. Males like Breivik aren’t crazy, but higly motivited and “doers” – with an agenda.. Put them in different situation, change their motivation, and those people become most productive society membeers. Anyway article does not explain mind of real mass shotters. For example, why Seung-Hui Cho, Korean citizen, become most efficiant killer in mass shoting history once he was introduced to USA. Why is that? I am pretty sure he would ended up being decent guy if he stayed in Korea. Or Elliot Rodger? He filmed cople articles of his motivation. They are here on youtube for anybody interersted. But why he ended up being screwed like that? What lead him to that place in life?
I don’t agree with the mental illness argument that you presented. Most people are NOT mentally ill. A lot of Americans self-diagnose mental illness and the professionals don’t help at all since a “conduct disorder” is often hard to diagnose and pretty much any negative emotion that lasts can be identified with that. Most of the people aren’t mentally ill. I agree that it’s okay to seek for help, but many psychiatrists do it just to sell drugs made by big pharma. However I agree that mental illness is not always the case for all those shootings, but you don’t do it right in supporting your argument by stating that all people have mental issues, what is a healthy mind then? I’m sure there was an increase on that since the 70’s, but no, not everyone has a mental problem. We are just dealing with life, with our life, ourselves and others. We don’t have a problem, the system has it (and it’s not a political claim. If something fails to make people stable, it’s that something not us).
I moved to the US in 2015 and the only reason I stay is because my own country is so much worse that in comparison, the US is the safer country. There’s so much more nuance to all of this than what you’re saying, but I appreciate you also trying to have an open conversation because this is absolutely a problem that needs to be fixed ASAP!
Being evil is not a psychological disorder and as is said in The Dark Knight “some men just want to watch the world burn.” While the character in that story is clinically insane, many of these mass shooters are simply terrible people who wish to inflict as much harm on others and society as a whole. Whether it be out of a sense of revenge, anger at the world, intent to gain notoriety, or a myriad of other factors, mental illness plays into it but the growing issue is that some people are evil and want to hurt others. They can be completely sane in this aspect, but nonetheless their goal is to cause harm. Great article and discussion of the topic!
This is the toughest topic with only Band-Aid solutions attached. I have heard every side of this topic and only feel drained every time I hear it, all of it. I feel like there is something missing, myself included. I feel that we are all missing the forest from the trees. It is something right on the tip of everybody’s tongue, but nobody can express it rightly. Might take used to be that it was social media echo chambers, but even this yielded nothing as I see hate rhetoric on every side of every topic in every social media thread and, as far as I can tell, Even the most hardened people who talk about killing people in the other group have not murdered anybody. Even I, a fierce individualist, have been brought so low as to wish death upon another in my life, but I never had any inclination to carry it out. I wanted to blame the fact that we are more alone than we have ever felt in the history of ever, despite, or maybe even because of, rampant human connections worldwide. But even here, it doesn’t explain anything. If that’s the case, there should be way more mass shooters. But instead, most people just opt for suicide, as you said, dying alone.
I’m Canadian and 30. This issue is so prolific and has brewed so long that I remember as far back as grade 2 (age 7-8) having “Code Red” drills. Even in a small rural town of under 20,000 in Ontario. And I remember even at that age being confused about 2 things already… 1 how in the hell is this crappy desk gunna stop a bullet? 2 I have no idea how to solve this but I don’t think practicing for it is the answer… As I’ve aged I’ve come to think all those drills normalized and desensitized us millennials and younger generations. And as horrific as this reality is, after an entire lifetime of conditioning it’s sadly our “normal”. We act shock, point blame everywhere, forget and move on. Only for it to happen again…. Maybe if we address the social issues of poverty, mental illness, gun control and radicalization online. Because I’d bet at least 1/4 of these come into play with many shootings. And I’m laying my bet on the last 2 being the biggest factors, with the first two maybe happening in tandem on occasion. But to be real most mass shooters I see are middle class white boys that get radicalized on forums and have either money for easily accessible guns or even sometimes just access to family weapons in the home
ok this is wrong on so many levels i dont even know why its up for discussion. People who commit mass murder DO have mental health problems, saying that “since they don’t have depression or anxiety” then they don’t have mental health problems, is just as wrong as thinking someone is healthy just because they don’t have cancer. Mental health problems go beyond psychosis, depression and anxiety. They also imply personality problems (borderline, narcissistic, antisocial); impulse control (oppositional-defiant, bipolar, explosive-intermittent), relationship (some cases of autism combined with behavioral problems, psychosis, etc.) even adiction is a mental illness. THESE ARE ALL MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS. That a person can know that something is “bad” does not mean that it is not mentally “right”. Now that someone is not diagnosed does not mean that the disease is not there. Because if this were a purely “social” issue then all white men would be committing murder. Also assuming that socially established violence makes a person not “mentally ill” but “normal” is also wrong. It’s like saying: if obesity and eating ultra-processed foods are normalized in a society, then diabetes is not a disease… it doesn’t continue to be a disease because the body is not working properly. In the case of violent people there are significant changes in how the brain works and processes information. That one cannot see it does not mean that the disease is not there. to equate the kukuxclan with mass murders.
As someone from England it’s horrifying to see how many mass shootings go down. I’ve had a psychotic episode, i couldn’t have ever planned out anything like that. Every single time they say “Crazy People” end of. I actually would like to see a ban on ANYONE that has had a mental health condition. When that number of shootings is barely changed? The boogeyman scapegoat is a bit F’D isnt it? People would be forced to look at other reasons.
I live in Belgium en when going out to party I see a lot of drunk people getting into fights and arguments. I mean probably every night it happens. The difference is that usually they punch each other and people first kinda avoid the situation and walk away bcs there is violence in a crowd, and then the friends of both people will pull them out of the fight and it ends there. Sometimes it escalates a bit more and they really beat each other up but most of the time they quit once they feel quite hurt because a physical fight tends to be more painful than shown in movies. After 1 good punch both people are feeling a good amount of pain and It doesn’t take long before at least 1 person realises that they are just gonna take a run out of the situation. But I can’t imagine how that would go if everyone is casually carrying a gun. The bruises or occasional broken bones one might get from a physical fight could easily turn into horrible shot wounds or even worse deaths if you get guns involved. And I’m not even talking about the collateral damage it could cause to random people who are just partying.
It’s not that simple. New Hampshire has a very low rate of gun crime, despite some of the loosest (if not the loosest) gun laws in the country. The Czech Republic/Czechia is quite gun-friendly, and it’s not known for this sort of thing. The same goes for several other countries. The fact is that if rightists (not just those who commit mass shootings!) have guns, so should those of us who won’t let them win without a fight. The same goes for lumpen gang members/hoodlums/etc., and, paradoxically, cops. Note also that the NRA is a gun control organization. They don’t want certain people to be able to defend themselves. They pushed for the Mulford Act in California, signed by then-Governor Ronald Reagan, after members of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense were carrying openly. This made it much harder to openly carry in CA, not that this stops gun violence. Also, the NRA had little to say about Philando Castile, a lawful gun owner murdered by a cop. Why might that be? I won’t be unarmed in the face of fascists, state power, and lumpen. Consider as well that most of the gun control measures you talked about are inherently classist (time, money, red tape).
I do believe that personality disorders and depression in combination with abuse or bullying have a high correlation with both criminality and shootings. The abuse and bullying part of it is what politicians and society at large ignore, so it’s not a surprise to me that 80% of shootings are caused by having a personal crisis. Unending hate and blame towards others that comes from an individual’s personal suffering breeds motivation for revenge, even if it is coming from a place of delusion.
I’m bipolar, and get the aggressive, angry mania…. I also have plenty of access to pewpews in Texas. .. NEVER EVER have i thought, even in my worse mixed episodes. Have I thought about pewpewing up people. Not even if I’m mad at those around me. I’d rather hurt myself before I would EVER hurt another. Makes me frustrated cause I have enough stigma surrounding me with my bipolar and adhd 😢
It makes me so angry when people pin it all on mental illness. I have severe bipolar 1 disorder w/psychotic features and I am not violent at all. I have a lot of difficulty in day to day life because of my symptoms and I have been hospitalized for psychosis before. I have never hurt anyone and I have no desire to. I treat everyone with love, kindness, and acceptance. I feel like there’s this narrative that people like me are all crazy, dangerous, and mass shooters and that’s really scary for me. I hope that this narrative gets better. And I hope that the politicians start figuring this shit out instead of just talking about it
Talk about how the media dog whistles autism when it comes to mass shootings but amlost never use the actual word. Thats one way they can keep the “mental illness doesnt cause shootings” stats down because autism isnt a mental illness itself, its a developmental disorder. It is very stressful to be autistic, because people avoid you and youre prone to a lot more peer abuse. Being ostracized and abused can lead to personality disorders and PTSD. Autistics are much more likely to be have employment issues, be homeless, cope with drugs, and have trouble with romantic relationships. Im sure someone is going to have a shit fit under my comment, but i am diagnosed autistic and i have seen this pattern. I think thay mass shootings are illogical, and i do not have a co occurring personality disorder.
I have mixed thoughts and feelings on this article. Firstly, no, severe mental illness absolutely plays a factor into mass shootings. Major depression, suicidal thoughts, and antisocial personality disorder almost play a role with mass shooters. However, “mental illness” is a major umbrella term to describe anything from anxiety to psychosis. Someone who has social anxiety isn’t the same as someone who hears a voice tell them to kill someone – even though both would be considered mentally ill. Instead of trying, That being said though, radicalization online is a major contributor, but may also be a sign of a bigger problem – loneliness. Many of these individuals feel no connection or social network, and so edgy far-right memes and jokes will gladly accept these individuals.
I know this is a couple months late and not many people will probably see this. But recently a family freind of mine prevented a mass shooting at his church. He had noticed a guy come in with a backpack and start acting really weird during the service. So he kept an eye on him. Part way through the service he noticed that he got up with his backpack and started to head towards the alter. He of course got up and followed after him. Before he got to the alter he stoped him and started to talk to him. This family friend is a former veteran and a licensed therapist. He knows how to talk to people. He managed to convince him to give him the backpack (that was full of guns) and walk with him out of the the church. He had someone else call the police while he sat down and talked to the guy. Apparently he was one of the rare people with a severe mental illness who tried to commit this mass shooting. The guy apparently thought that a saint (i dont rember witch one) was talking to him and telling him to remove some hatred and sin from earth or something like that. He had planned to drive to diffrent churches and kill a lot of people. This one just so happened to be the first one he stoped at. The cops got there and i dont know what happened to the guy after that. What you said about increased access to mental health services probably would have prevented him from getting to that point in the first place. My friend was just really lucky to be the right person at the right place noticeing the behavior of the right guy at the right time.
idk why I feel like this is leaning too much into a left leaning perspective on mass shooters, I have to critic that given that extremely left wing folks have also harbored a lot of violence and there has been a history of shootings and attacks (even most recent but no one wants to BRING that up without being called someone with a extreme right wing agenda), but to make things more simple without a black and white point of view it’s simply that every single human being is one bad day away from picking up a weapon and causing harm against others, mental illness or not, hate becomes wrath and these are things that always blind our very sense of reality.
Humans are animals. When animals are put in life threatening situations, they act unpredictably. Same when they are isolated, or consistently abused. It’s not “mental illness” in the way people are using the term. It’s the fact that our society in the US is fucked up. As long as we have the right to acquire a firearm, but do not have the right to seek healthcare, food or shelter, this shit will continue. It’s easy to fall into the cracks in this country. If you lose your car or your cell phone in huge swathes of this country, and have no one to help you get back on your feet, You’re done. You’re no longer a viable person in our economy. Isolation, economic or interpersonal, can breed hopelessness, fatalism, extremism and violence. We need to build society to prevent isolation and enhance community.
if 70% of mass shooters are suicidal, how can you say that most mass shooters are not mentally ill? is suicidal ideation not a sign of mental illness? even if they are not meeting criteria for a specific DSM diagnosable mental illness, I would think the desire to commit mass homicide and usually also suicide isn’t a sign of being mentally healthy (especially coupled with the other traits you mentioned of the typical mass shooter). while I agree that mental illness does not cause mass shootings and shouldn’t be an excuse, I disagree that most mass shooters are not mentally ill. I also disagree that better mental health treatment wouldn’t help prevent many mass shootings (ideally coupled with better social services all around). also, while gang shooters and terrorists are not depicted in the media as mentally ill, they often arguably are– both groups are highly likely to have grown up experiencing severe trauma
Actually, the three cities with the most gun violence in the world all have a basic zero civilian gun ownership law. And one of those countries has 10 TIMES THE AMOUNT OF GUN VIOLENCE. Because gun violence has nothing to do with gun control. America has a culture of violence. We love and praise violence. So until we change our culture, the shootings will continue. Don’t forget that almost every single citizen in Switzerland owns a gun and they have practically no gun violence.
My old middle school was also a high school, however I only attended for three years. During that time, I experienced incessant bullying, as I didn’t maintain an athletic stature. I was also socially awkward on top of that. The bullying began to take a toll on my academic performance, but the school was doing nothing to prevent it. People sometimes don’t realize that school shooters begin to direct more of their hate onto the school as opposed to the bullies in general, and they have a right to hate the school, if the school isn’t doing anything to prevent the bullying. I’m so happy my parents saw what was happening to me and pulled me out of that school. I often wonder what would’ve happened if I attended for high school.
So what you are selling us here is that most of these folks have a precipitating event, and 70% of them are suicidal. But they are mentally healthy. Because if someone walked into your office and said “I am suicidal, but I am not depressed, and it is because of a precipitating event, but I don’t have.any adjustment problems” that would make sense to you? You wouldn’t take him into therapy and look for whatever made him this fragile?
The only part of this article I disagree with is that gun control/reform would be effective in stopping mass shootings… 1. Chicago has the strictest gun laws in the nation and has the highest Amount of shootings 2. universal Background checks wont work because they are not backed by anything 3.The Assault weapons ban bill expired and ended because the bill proved to be ineffective and did not reduce gun violence, Look it up 4. You stated we should raise the federal age to limit the purchases of a guns but also said earlier that the ave age of a mass shooter was 32-34 5. Bump stocks have been illegal since 2019 6. Banning high capacity mags will only affect the Law-abiding gun owner
Regarding mental health, specifically 8:20 and the hard “No! Obviously wrong.” brought me to writing this comment. Especially the “obvious” make it sound much more ignorant than reasonable. No healthy human mind hasn’t a challange killing another human. By “healthy human mind” I don’t mean an illness. Just like with your physical health you can feel exhausted without being ill. If your reality breaks too much, your mental health usually takes a hit, which doesn’t mean it can’t recover. Think about losing your parents, or child. That will usually take a heavy toll on ones mental health, without having a mental sickness. I hope I could get my point across, which this article does not acknowledge.
Mental illness as defined by the DSM (paraphrased) is something outside the “norm” or something that causes the person experiencing it distress or discomfort and negatively impacts their lives. I would say that all those that killed, now are experiencing negative life impacts (jail or death). – Although I question the validity of the DSM-5 often. Next, “It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.” I would in fact argue that the majority of people perusal this article and the majority of people in the western world ARE in fact mentally ill. If someone exists in the western world and is able to not be affected by the constant death, subjugation, exploitation, and generally cruel and negative behaviours of institutions and individuals directed towards all of us, and hold such a distinct absence of empathy and compassion, they are far more mentally ill, than a confused, angry, possibly mentally unwell person reacting to their environment and experiences. The western world is full of narcissistic personality disorder, sociopathology and psychopathology. The entire culture has become ill and when one actively voices outcry against the norm, they are then labelled “mentally ill” because they are having a completely normal reaction to living is a sick society but outside of the “typical” response (apathy and indifference). Things like depression and anxiety are completely normal human reactions to “daily life” in this exploitative western culture, being continuously subjugated by those around them.
I will say that gun laws are fine as they are now. Argue it all you want, but hear me out. We all know the US government is terrible as is, and at the moment is quite the opposite of free. However, we have one thing to ensure we still have the freedom to do as we please; GUNS. This is the case because civilians having firearms allows us to more easily rebel against government corruption, and also makes standing our ground way easier. I do agree that it also makes mass shootings easier, but that is where the process comes in. I feel all that is needed is a more lengthy and secure process to obtaining firearms. Overall firearms are beneficial as it allows us not only to keep the government in check, but to combat things such as authoritarianism or potential tyranny. It has been shown in many cases that countries either do not give civilians the right to bare arms in an effort to control that rebellion so that they cannot be jeopardized heavily, or revoking that right to quell those rebellions. Firearms are our last resort if our government fails to do its job. It also helps preserve other rights, and self defense. To combat mass shooters, civilians with CCWs (Conceal Carry Warrant), can easily utilize their firearm for the greater good. The dynamics are fine as is, just a need for a better process of achieving them.
These are very definitive statements and conclusions you are making, without citing any studies that have analyzed the shooters mental health status. Most of these shooters aren’t alive. So gathering proper information to have a solid grasp on their state of mind prior, during, and after these horrific incidents isn’t available; that I’m aware of. The media and hearsay, from what I understand, are not credentialed sources of psychological analysis.
In “Why Does He Do That?”, Lundy Bancroft explains that the abusive mindset (“My big feelings are all that matter!”) and mental illness (various impairments in information processing resulting in maladaptive beliefs) are both common and sometimes overlap in the same person. However, mental illness does not make the abusive mindset more likely; it can make it more dangerous, though, as the person’s inhibitions may be lowered. 🤔
An excellent, powerful article, thank you! One other thing you could have added when talking about groups of people who kill but where we don’t automatically blame mental illness is those who kill legally: police, the military, those who participate in the death penalty. Virtually every society has certain categories of killing that it considers to be “justified”, and from your analysis it’s clear that most mass shooters consider their actions to be justified by their own ethical codes, whether those be ideological or based purely on personal grievance. The spread of extremist ideologies, whether they be incels or white supremacists or transphobes or sov cits or other parts of the overlapping alt-right spheres of hatred, spreads the idea that these killings are justified as part of a greater struggle. Add personal grievances, a social system with dire consequences for “failure”, and the normalisation of a vast supply of killing machines as part of everyday life, and you have a recipe for the widespread stochastic terrorism that we’ve already seen too much of.
Disagree with the word Evil. I was diagnosed with MDD and BPD, I have lived with this since teenage years and I’m now 46 and only got diagnosed 7 years ago! No history of violence other than against myself, however when I’m not on meds, I get sever rage and anger. It’s a strange world we live in. From eating disorder to OCD, it’s hard to think of something I’ve not been through or live with, I have found I’ve got better as I’ve got older and make slightly better judgement calls, but I’m anti depressants and anti psychotics and have been for years and always will be. I wonder if any of these spree killers suffer from similar emotional disorders?
As the sister and daughter of 2 Psychologists, these types of incidents could be stopped by : 1. Reforming the mental health industry so that those who needed help wouldn’t be stigmatized and people who observe dangerous or concerning behavior, would be more open and willing to help them. 2. Get back to moral and spiritual standards that strengthen the home and put the parents back in charge of the discipline of their children. The Bible clearly states that parents are mandated to be the moral and spiritual authority in the home. Until that child reaches adulthood and becomes responsible for their own actions, the parents are liable for whatever their child does in society. In most of these cases, the person(s) responsible for the incident, had no connection to a church, synagogue, or other spiritual body that could have provided counseling, mentors, or wholesome recreation and activities that would have kept them out of trouble. 3. Politicians need to stop grandstanding about gun control and get to the root of the problem. Demand that the health care industry do more to help those in need and stop making it a partisan issue. Let the parents do what they need to do, to correct mis-behavior un their children. Spankings and TRUE discipline should not be confused with abuse…there is a difference. When my parents and grandparents were children, they got a good whipping not only from their parents but teachers and neighbors were allowed to “swat their rump”. Spare the rod, you spoil the child.
PHD here who has studied mass shootings for 20 years. There is a lot of truth to the take in a lot of this article on MS but there are also a lot of nuances being oversimplified. Mental illness as defined by the DSM cannot be used as a barometer for mental health. MS have to do with a myriad of things. They don’t happen in a vacuum and its not an either or scenario. Mental health issues and access to guns are only two of the variables involved and they are both crucial to addressing the problem. Creating a dichotomy only helps to polarize the topic for political reasons, fosters ignorance, and stifling critical thinking. It can feel overwhelming to look at the problem from the deeply systemic and intricate reason it exists but we must resist the urge to oversimplify it. Investigate your biases. For instance, you quote the stat that 70% of shooters were found to be suicidal but then go on to say mental health has very little to do with MS. The cognitive dissonance is amazing. Please know that by addressing the mental health aspect, it does not mean you cannot address the gun control aspect also. Both are of paramount importance right now. Let’s get people together for real talk and real solutions.
Mentally ill people are a gazillion times more dangerous to themselves than to other people. Having an instant “pain goes away” button at your disposal at any time is just that big of a temptation. I am sure that at some points in my life if i had a gun beside me i would not be here to post this. Thankfully i live in a country where guns are hard to come by and there’s universal healthcare. Which btw is super ironic that this one guy says the “solution is mental health” in this one country that has the most expensive healthcare in the world. One would assume that if the competing hypotheses on mass shooters are either guns or mental health that at least one of them would be addressed but i guess… not?
Someone suffering from a personality disorder is mentally ill which I am positive shows up in the majority of these cases and any other where someone is killed without purpose or reason. Their reasons are not valid purposes simply because they are deranged illusions. You sir need a hug and some help.
Thank you for bringing up the issue with suicide and guns in America. As a female alone I don’t fit the stereotypical suicide via firearm profile. However, I clearly recall to this day, holding a loaded gun, putting the barrel into my mouth, and genuinely contemplating the end. I thankfully never pulled that trigger, yet I continued to sleep with it under my pillow. Not for protection. I still struggle with the will to survive, but I’m at a point where I know others need me. I really wish we would stop just giving lip-service to mental health, but actually implement treatment. To have mental clarity should be considered as important a need as food and shelter. I extend my love to all of you whom are hurting. ❤
Narcisistic collapse? Isn’t Narcisistic Personality Disorder, or NPD a mental illness? Not that these types of people usually go to therapists. When a NPD person is under too much stress they ‘collapse’, can’ t hold it together and may act out violently. To say that a ‘shooter’ may not be mentally ill is ridiculous. A NPD person rarely goes for help, so will have no formal history of mental illness. On the other hand, suicidal ideation is a side effect of certain meds. I feel that a ‘shooters’ med status should be publicly known. Some meds may need to be more carefully prescribed or even removed from the market.
I see you stance, and it makes sense to me why this is where you land on this topic. However, my argument, particularly in conjunction with your comparisons to terrorism and gang activity, is as follows: The existence of a double standard when evaluating this category of violence does not exclude mental health as a factor in these acts. We have documented evidence on how environment and socialization impact the way that people interact with their worlds, making it difficult to impossible to escape the structures they are trapped in without robust community support, INCLUDING from mental health professionals. I would be cautious calling any of these derived mental states “mental illness,” but I would enthusiastically call them symptoms of a mental health crisis in the same way I would look at poor diet and exercise habits as risk factors more significant health issues later in life. I have heard the statistics on people with mental health disorders being more likely to be abused than be the abusers – the data is robust and I would be foolish to argue it… but I counter that often the people we see enter these events have been under mental duress and abuse from social and cultural norms in far less obvious ways than our traditional definitions allow us to acknowledge. In short – I believe a crisis of mental health IS indicated in most cases of violence. This does not bear out to “people with mental health issues are inherently dangerous,” nor any of the other crual jumps of logic we find politically motivated individuals make to do anything but promote proper gun controls and provide reasonable healthcare for their citizens.
partially correct and partially incorrect. the term ‘mentally ill’ is used to signify that there is no direct conflict between victim and perpetrator and therefore the perpetrator is acting out a delusional form of vengeance on designated group x who are not actually responsible for anything. typically this grievance manifests due to narcissism/psychopathy (i deserve more than this, they’re the reason for my lowly position/failure). psychopaths are 2% of the population, 15% of the prison population and commit 30 – 40% of the crime in the country. (psychopaths are the ones who are committing stranger on stranger crimes) narcissists/psychopaths are more likely to be radicalized, they don’t care about other people and are much more likely to desire fame/infamy.
Wouldn’t racism, discrimination and radicalization be rooted mainly in narcissism. Narcissism also entailed with a lot of problematic thoughts and behavior patterns. And Narcissism in its extremities is related to personality disorder, and wouldn’t that is under the mental illness umbrella? I think I understand where you’re coming from, especially with you working closely with patients and mental illness stigma and all. However, IMO, these perps are mentally unsound. Regardless, their crime will still be unjustifiable. I totally agree that a more holistic approach to the matter encompassing the health, legal and social aspects would be more effective in dealing with such problem.
I know that people with mental disorders who do no harm, do not want to be associated with those who do, but calling agressive and hateful people sane, seems wrong to me. Any mental state that causes suffering or death to you or the ones around you, whether conscious or not of your acts, is a mental disorder. Dissocial disorder in the ICD-11, and ASPD in the DSM5, are mental disorders. Anger/hate issues, just like fear/anxiety issues, are not sane, and can be treated. Where I live, in France, psychotherapies are successfully applied, to those types of people, in prisons (not to a large scale, yet. But in bigger scales, in Northern Europe). Some people say they are not treatable, maybe because they do not know how to treat them.
I still don’t understand how someone who responds so violently to being socially rejected, isn’t mentally ill. I am not saying that all mentally ill people are violent, but this level of violence and suicidality seems to suggest mental illness. Can someone please explain how these people are mot memtally ill ? It genuinely doesn’t make sense to me
I totally agree with you, its not just mental illness. There are so many factors like family problems, racism, bullying, religion, political views and so many more. These are some of the factors that is mentioned. It is actually alarming that a mass shooting occurs more than ones in a day. These mass shooters targets anyone including the people in the vicinity of where they commit mass murder. A survivor of mass shooting is like a soldier suffering from war. Gun ownership in the United States of America is lifetime. But, in other countries who monitored licensed and registered firearms.Gun owners have to go through Neurological Exams, they need a permit to carry certificate, license to own and possess firearms. There are countries who loves guns as well, but they have rules and regulations like gun owners should update their license every two years.
Have you seen the rate of mental health diagnosis amongst the prison population? Overwhelming amounts of ASPD, ADHD, Borderline Personality Disorder, substance use disorders, trauma disorders, etc. To claim that the gang soldier casually shooting at rival gang members isn’t doing what they’re doing because of mental illness is absurd. Normal people don’t solve their disagreements with guns.
Since you made this and me just perusal it for the first time today . The number of gun violence is now at 637 with 183 happening in 72 hours. With over 40,000 resulting in deaths. As far as Mass shooters 2023 39 or maybe more since the last update on 12/5/2023 has given 2023 a breaking record in modern times for Mass Shootings. It’s horrible I have to worry if my children will be ok everytime they leave the house.
I came across this article about a week after yet another mass shooting. I wanted to know why. Mental health coverage suffers from insufficient coverage along with the stigma of embarrassment or fear of the process.Yes, most individuals with mental health disorders do not become serial killers. However, I wonder concerning the reverse of that statement. We (aka non-professionals) often ascribe these tragedies to sociopathy and psychopathy characteristics. Neither pathology is listed in the DSM-5 (The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition). What is listed is ASPD (antisocial personality order). ASPD can show itself in traits such as uncontrolled rage, extreme beliefs, no remorse or guilt which when weapons are added produce tragedy. We should never demonize or stigmatize the mentally ill, it is wrong ethically and absolutely no help in our current situation. I agree proper insurance coverage along with destigmatizing mental illness is vital to end this loop of tragedies.
I’m usually good at understanding people and their motivations, including “fucked up” people like criminals. But mass shooters were something I could never wrap my head around. What compelled you to turn around and murder random people that didn’t have anything to do with your suffering is beyond me.
I really liked this essay but I have some notes. 1) I suggest you look into the connection between unhealthy family life and mass shooters. I believe that by strengthening family units, in particular reducing the number of single-parent households, we will reduce these horrible events. 2) You say common sense gun laws and alarm bells go off in my head. That sounds like a buzzword the left uses to cover up something extreme. What, exactly do you mean by this? I am in favor of stricter laws than we have now, but I think that totally disarming a population is a bad idea. As strange as it sounds a population with guns is a legit check on bad governments. I want revolt to be in society’s tool box and totally disarming a population fairly effectively takes that out of the toolbox. That said, it is kinda silly that you can buy assault rifles without some kind of safety training. If I were in charge a gun license would totally become a thing.
Great article, I think a lot of the confusion when it comes to the connection between mental health and violence is from the idea that “white men” or anyone suffers from a self hatred that eventually is assigned to the world entirely. Questions to ask is why they have this sense of hatred, is it a subconscious thing, where does it come from within the person because I imagine it’s a maladaptive way of seeing things because it is just put in the wrong setting. I think people have many incorrect or strange ways of seeing the world I think it’s only a problem when the symbols of the mind and the concepts are misinterpreted perpetually so I think deeper understanding of what the hateful person is really only something that can be done by the closer people in their life. Maybe time can be spent makeing or easier for those individuals. Cause if you hate the world so much to do mass violence you aren’t gonna start trusting your therapist if you have no reason to believe they have your well-being in mind
I liked this article until it got to the point where it’s focus becomes stricter gun laws. Do you ever see these mass shooters going to your local police station to shoot up the police? No, because they wouldn’t get far. Maybe better security is the answer, not stricter gun laws. Once you make the rules on obtaining guns stricter, and keep going at it, you end up losing your guns altogether. And you can say this isn’t mental health, but isn’t having these thoughts a mental health issue in itself? If they were healthy and mentally in a good spot I believe they would be less susceptible to hate. Just me though.
im a poor white disabled american i was victimized several times by several white middle class americans some of them caused me severe permanet harm which has made me suffer for the rest of my life other white middle class americans put me in severe danger by renting me severe health hazard apts i moved to teh arab neighborhood 14 years ago thank god i did the arabs treat me one thousand times better thanks to the arabs im finally safe and im no longer harmed and no longer put in danger and no longer harmed
* I wanna preface this by saying I do believe better gun control laws would bring down the violence and that it’s the right thing to do * What studies show that mass shootings decreased during the assault weapons ban? Could it be correlation but not causation? Could those numbers be slightly padded? Since the definition of a mass shooting isnt 100% agreed upon it’s not unreasonable that the criteria might be slightly stricter in order to appear more effective. Is it work restricting guns in the name of mass shootings when they account for such a small fraction of gun deaths? Would gun control have unintended side effects like bombings that may be much more devastating? Considering how many shooters spend long periods of time preparing, does reduced mag sizes actually do anything when you could just stockpile smaller capacity mags over a length of time? Is it worth it? Another way? I ask bc I’ve met so many who have made up their minds and won’t challenge their own beliefs and I have no idea how to communicate this
You can’t just simplify that only certain mental illnesses factor into mass shootings. People often avoid seeking treatment due to possible being mistreated or not being taken seriously. They don’t want to be seen as a dollar sign which is understandable. There are many more mental illnesses that are prevalent in mass shootings. Although those said mental illnesses are not always easily detectable. Mental health professionals miss signs as well as anyone else who plays a significant role in the affected shooters’ lives. One can only place themselves in another mentally disturbed individual’s head without bearing the true perspective of said person. There are many mental illnesses that factor into these shootings. Although stricter gun laws may help, that doesn’t mean take guns away as they play a role in defending against possible tyrannical governments. As you said right-wing extremism plays a major role in these shootings, well to the contrary, gun control extremism would strip individual defense from threats and crimes etc. Meeting somewhere in the middle while understanding the seriousness of mental health would help in modern society greatly. Gun suicides are 54% in the U.S. because of depreciating mental health factors, not just the guns. I could make a full detailed response to this article but for the sake of brevity I’m summarizing my response accordingly. I’m simply posting my opinion on the matter, take it or leave it I’ll understand.
For someone who was so careful about interpretation of statistics in general, I was disappointed that you didn’t apply that with the same rigor when it came to the idea that banning assault weapons caused a reduction in mass shootings (by making the weapons that kill people most prolifically harder to access). The ban didn’t remove guns from circulation, it affected the production of new guns. If that reduction CAUSED a drop in mass shootings, then there should have been a significant lag. I don’t think trying to ban guns is a good way to reduce access to them. Confiscation is completely impractical at this point, and the practical effect of every movement attempting to ban guns (or types of guns) outright is clear: we’re simply writing some of the most effective ad copy the gun industry puts out. One of the fastest ways to reduce gun sales would be to stop advocating for banning guns. Gun violence is a public health crisis. Treat it like we did smoking when I was a teenager: restrict advertising messages and limit their reach. Put pressure on big media companies to make guns as rare as cigarettes have become. Restrict the military from working with media to present guns as powerful and cool.
With this Supreme Court gun control is unfortunately a dead end. Since Biden has said multiple times he has no interest in changing the make up of the court, we should look at other solutions for the time being. What programs can we enact to deradicalize this far right extremists? What can we do to prevent people with a history of committing DV from getting guns? And what can we do to address the significant life events that push shooters to take that final step? Answering this will address the root causes of mass shootings
I wonder if AI will one day be able to help us understand what causes people to think they should kill others. I try to relate, using times when I have been very angry, but I can’t imagine ever wanting someone to actually die. This makes it impossible to even begin to understand what goes on in their head. I hope AI can help us to see how people can turn to such violence and possibly intervene before damage occurs – but without the whole Minority Report process being deployed.
Also hear this “in my old school are teacher’s never told us what to really do if theres someone shooting the only person we had in are old school was 1 guard with a baton an a taser this was bad when you realize its a elementary school in South Carolina with 1000 kids” this is a true story of my old school i used to go to. God knows whats happening with that school now last thing i heard about them was a court case of teachers treating kids like dolphins in a park.
Hi! Young white conservative here. Im European so idk how relevant this is but I wanted to share my perspective on the issue. Here in Europe there are few mass shootings. Most episodes are provoked by jihadists. Similar to how you propose censorship against right-wing ideas, many Europeans attack Islam itself for these attacks, some going as far as to propose the ban on the religion. I think that is totally wrong and counter-productive. Being silenced prevents healthy dialogue which fosters violence. It makes the people who think that way feel outcasted, rejected, and with one solution: violence. Gun control, put more resources into the police, and improving the economy are great ways if preventing these attacks, although 0% is impossible to reach
you lost me at 27.30 we didn’t have this problem when we were able to teach gun control in schools. we obviously have a different interpretation of what gun control is. not only that but the next several minutes are propaganda meant to dismiss and confuse people about what the right wing supports and ideologically is.
Great article Neuro. Scrolling through some of the comments has me facepalming because it seems like a lot of them just decided not to pay attention to the full context of everything but your replies handled it pretty well. As I’m writing this I’ve had two separate gun homicides near my block 90 minutes apart from each other. No arrests have been made which is honestly a sad conclusion a lot of the time in my city, though it’s only been 24 hours since then so who knows. And every time I think about things like this happening near us I think about the safety of myself and my mother. But I also can’t help to think why people would commit such evil against their fellow man. Unfortunately like you said, it ends up being about simple stuff: poverty, gang territory, respect, revenge. The simplicity of what causes this violence is honestly the scariest part. Not to mention our inability/unwillingness to solve it is disheartening. Like how do you fix a complicated, centuries-long system meant to cripple the lower class by any means necessary? I’m reminded of a headline of an onion article discussing the Uvalde massacre: ‘No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens. Despite this dreary rant, I am mostly hopeful. This nation has weathered through worse evils. It’s just another colossus we have to beat. At the very most I can probably share this article with others. It may not be much to stop these rampages, but it’s better than nothing, if only to educate.
i strongly believe that everyone has a limit of what they can deal with until they start committing heinous acts. anyone can become a killer. the usa’s hostile architecture, car dependent infrastructure, and just generally not being able to socialize with people in person anymore surely doesnt help people develop empathy. you get bullied in school and the avenues of unlearning your hatred are very limited in this day and age. i feel that gun control treats the symptom and not the sickness, as mass shootings as we know them today are a fairly recent phenomenon. its already quite stupid that a background check can get held for days to weeks if you even have felons in your immediate family that you have no control over. a safety course isnt a solution because deliberately shooting someone isnt caused by ignorance of gun safety. furthermore, so called “assault weapons” as politicians call them werent even all that popular until the clinton ban. i also disagree that a gun is more efficient for a mass killing than bombs, as a rifle is a precision instrument that requires sights to be on target while a homebrew explosive can be designed from the ground up to inflict maximum damage upon a crowd. convincing the american populace to vote for these laws on a federal scale is also all but out of the question. as someone who has dealt with homicidal thoughts and ideation for most of my life, integrating social supports, therapists, etc in public institutions like schools would be a solid start, but only so effective.
In my opinions they’re obviously isn’t mentally ill..of course they knew what they do, they’re prepared, they’re able using guns and vehicles, having access to guns & vehicles ownership, they’re motivated with personal motive & choosing the specific target locations..maybe they’re have some hatred toward races, ideologies, religions or communities. I do believe if they’re in their sane state before commit that act. We couldn’t easily categorized every self-control issues into mental illness
What I expected: A criminal profiling analysis of mass murderers. What I got: A left-wing rant about American politics. I agree with some of the things in the article (mass shooters are not usually “insane” in the way we think, even though they choose to commit actions that seem on the surface irrational, there is a correlation between extreme right-wing ideology and terrorism, and legal access to guns by perpetrators plays a role as well) but I feel they were filtered through an ideological lens. Like if Steve Shives did a article about why mass shootings happen, vs James Alan Fox.
there are these 2 boys who live on my block (we live in the suburbs ~ that’s important if u keep reading) and one of them is absolutely unhinged like he harasses us and other neighbours and when you ask him to politely stop he goes from 0 to 100 threatening you screaming it’s insane, the other boy holds him back and gets him inside. not only that but the cops & firefighters & battalion have been to their house multiple times, i called once and they were there many times after that with more emergency service. idk i just don’t know if this boy is troubled or if he’s going to be my little sisters demise because i am so afraid when i send her to school everyday that it could be that boy because he already has some weird vandetta against us (his neighbours), and he’s just so violent. like the way he is he just seems like he would do something like that, the other boy seems like he might be able to help him but i’m so scared it will become a Columbine situation. am i paranoid for my little sister because i see this boy blow up and terrorize the neighbourhood or am i onto something? i stay inside a lot but i never see these boys go out ever.. my sister took a pic of one of them in school they looked so sad and lonely. idk if these are signs or if i’m paranoid once again /: it doesn’t help the school has had multiple threats and i am so scared for her and this boy terrifies me and i don’t want her to target her. sigh
I am so relieved I have never EVER been afraid something like this can happen to me or anyone I know. Since 1945 there has been one. 1 mass shooting in Norway and that was 12 years ago and much harder to do today cause the government made it even more difficult to do than prior to 2011. You might think we don’t own firearms. Wrong. Every other home owner has access to a shotgun. Lots of hunters. Rifles the same situation. Nobody has weapons made for war. That’s the difference. If access to such weapons existed here as in USA the school shootings would begin.
It’s utterly crazy that increased security at schools won’t help. In fact, a recent shooting that took place, the shooter actually chose a different location because their first choice was what we in the military refer to as a hard target. The chance of being stopped sooner or having immediate confrontation by an armed individual makes it a less desirable target. Also, mass shootings recently redefined as an when 3 or more, not including the shooter, had been harmed or killed by a firearm. Stop spreading misinformation and using unverified stastitics to prove your narrative. I didn’t want to engage at all to promote your article further, but honestly, you need to provide factual information, not anti-gun propaganda
I’m in Jax, FL, we had one guy who had voluntarily checked himself into an asylum, so he wasn’t barred from being able to buy guns. In Jacksonville, since the city is so large, most of the surrounding counties share the same area code, and people still call it jacksonville. We had a guy come from the West end of Jacksonville known as clay county, and went to the north side that was predominantly black, and managed to kill three at a Dollar general in order to spark a race war
I’m only 3+ minutes into your article. I’m amazed at the amount of effort of visualization and explaination you have given thus far. But, respectfully, please don’t say something like preventing these situations from happening again. This world is an endless cycle that is bound to beget more and more BASTARDS who are driven and pushed to such madness where they may or may not have had help. They experienced terrible things because of fools before them, they (some of them) will then to spread such madness, and then create fools from such madness after them to repeat the same thing over and over again. It’s a mad, pathetic, never-ending cycle.
You should say mass murderer, not shooter. In countries where guns aren’t as accessible, the same kind of killer will either make a bomb or drive a car into a crowd. The thing is that we hear a lot about mass murder in the US and very little from other countries. In the US they use guns because that’s what is accessible, also US is big, with a lot of people that love freedom and diversity. You can’t compare the US to a much smaller or less diverse country, they just aren’t the same. Citing suicide by guns is confusing the point, people use guns to kill themselves because it is a effective way to do it. Having statistics about violence broken up by the means of doing it is biased, a great way to ignore some facts and concentrate on those which support your political viewpoint.
I feel like it’s more complicated than gun laws and mental illness. Just the fact suicide rates are so high ( not just by guns ) and violence is through the roof, is a clear indication of a major issue. Perhaps technology and “function of life” are moving far more rapidly than human adaptations permit, when simplicity is what’s required? It almost seems like with every action there is a reaction, we just don’t always know what it’s going to be.. if that makes sense. I just feel like if people want to hurt others, they will. Instead of taking away every option they have at taking life, let’s look at why life is so bad to so many to begin with.
Big contributions are stress from school people being obsessed with perfection not fitting in and having no friends being sad all the time turns into anger and frustration wanting for them to personally cause distress and pain to as many people as possible it makes them feel good and it feels better just putting people down who they feel deep hatred for most of them will become psychopaths and lose their minds days before the incidents
I have clinical deoression. Generalize anxiety, suicidal thought since I was teenager And it is all about my CPTSD casuse by my Narcisistic parents. Never even once in my entire life I think about being violence. I don’t think it is about mental illness. People can be just even because they born to be that way.
You say that mass shooting’s particularly decreased during the ban, yet overall crime increased and overall shootings changed negligibly. The report finds that crime with assault weapons did indeed increase but was made up for by people finding other means to commit their acts. And that’s generally how things will go. If this is a problem with “ease of access” than by virtue of the phrase itself, the violent will simply find a weapon that is more easy to procure, or they might consider just stealing the weapons they cannot buy themselves which is what I’ve seen happen. Most criminals looking to victims people are going to do it regardless, the difference in numbers will be made up for. New York is tough on guns, but gang crime is still an issue. Even where guns are not fired, they are still brandished or used as blunt instruments to rob or intimidate people. Criminals need weapons to intimidate, if not guns, what else might a criminal use? Considering hands and feet cause more deaths than “assault weapons”, it’s not so hard to see that we are skipping over the real problems. Either mental health is a factor or it’s not and we accept that every human has the potential to break from civilized ideology and kill another person and there’s nothing we can do about it but continue to take the tools that are being used and hope they don’t kill people by other means. Especially in places like Baltimore and Chicago, that’s not happening. The gang and organized crime is too engrained in those organizations and their issues with each other and their need to procure money to fund their organizations don’t change.
I love when politicians go Mental Health Mental Health…so how many of those politicians have helped Americans gain access to resources for mental illnesses? Plus, even if you have access to resources a lot of the time the only thing that might be somewhat (or fully) covered by insurances is medications. When one medications don’t work for everyone and their illnesses, and two they are other things that have been proven to work besides taking another pill.
Early in the article you said that mental illness is not the cause of mass shootings, but then at around the 30 min mark you said “…most of (mass shooters) are suicidal…” are you implying that suicidality is not a mental illness? I see a few issues with your methodology. The biggest problem is that your sources contradict each other, and most of the time you don’t mention which source you’re using when talking statistics. For example, the Gun Violence Archive includes gang violence and other crime-related shootings, whereas the Violence Project narrows it down to 8 mass shootings per year at most. (edit: I saw your pinned comment after writing this–thank you for making that correction.) A related problem is not defining “mass shooting.” It would be helpful to have a very clear and categorized definition so that we can all stay on the same page and prevent the spreading of misinformation. Also, let’s talk about gun control. Prior to 1968, anyone, including teenagers, could easily order a semi-automatic rifle with a high-capacity magazine such as the M1 carbine (what lawmakers are calling “assault rifles” or “assault weapons” these days). Many teens would go hunting or target practicing in the woods, then store their guns in school lockers before class. Mass shootings were virtually non-existent back then. What’s changed? A lot of things, including: denser cities, less walkable cities, less access to nature, generally higher population, easy access to scary worldwide news, less cultural emphasis on family as a nuclear unit, and prescription drugs.
Gun deaths did not significantly rise after 2004. Presenting these alarming statistics without showing actual graphs of the data that we have is manipulative and misleading. And making a big deal about “suicide by gun” is irrelevant. Suicides will happen regardless of the means, guns just happen to be common. And I wish you put your sources up on screen when you say them, like others do, so we can check them more easily. I hate having to go through sources in the first place, and not having them time stamped makes going through them even more tedious.
So, you’re a smart guy and I enjoy your articles in general, but this article made two key errors in its argumentation that are really off-brand for you. First, you confound “necessary” and “sufficient.” You make a a great argument for why mental illness isn’t sufficient for a mass shooting. The vast majority of folks with mental health issues are not violent. You make no argument, however, for why you wouldn’t assume at least some sort of anxiety or depressive disorder for someone with such extreme hopelessness and rage that they go and murder/suicide a group of people. Having reasons is definitely not a counter to that: every depressed person in the world has internal reasons why they do things. Your gang member example in particular should have gone the other way, I think: I don’t know about you, but most gang members I’ve worked with have massive amounts of anxiety and often substantial trauma. Sometimes depression, though they tend to feel more powerful than that. Second, you confound psychosis and mental illness, which is just bizarre coming from you. Insanity as a plea is about psychosis. Detachment from reality is also about psychosis. It’s true that very few people who commit mass shootings have psychosis. But it’s also notable that only a tiny percentage of people with some stripe of mental illness have psychosis. Not only is psychosis a rare symptom among mental health disorders (the vast majority of disorders in the DSM don’t have psychosis as a symptom) but also psychotic disorders have a much lower population prevalence as opposed to other mental health disorders.
Well to explain it more simply. The shooters think they’re bad people. They sort of believe the world is better without them. Mentally ill, Deranged, meh, I don’t care that much about those words. But sometimes it’s very easy to just ‘hate’ a group. No one likes children crying, some people hate indoctrination and some people just hate. And considering America being the icon of “freedom”, doesn’t make it better I believe. But I do feel like that hate is very surface level, it’s definitely a thing that makes people go down with a shooting. I think it’s also “If I’m going down you’re going down with me” since 70% are suicidal and 60% actually die on the shooting (at least better than escaping death and continuing). But I believe any for of hate could actually lead to oversimplifying cause of justice. Even with so many people having a moral code by simply not killing people, there’s always an outstander. Some people still think killing is good, yet in this world it’s actually not. And sometimes it’s better to give people the benefit of the doubt or vice versa. Maybe not always deserved, but never underestimate the placebo effect 😉
Columbine..they were affected by mental illness indirectly, also there different degrees of mental disorders and types. There is no easy access to gun in america, mostly in these cases guns smuggled if a person has connections directly or indirectly and also there are verifications for gun ownership etc. Americans have tendency to defame their own country for illogical reasons and so on deep down the rabbit hole it goes because Im barely scratching the surface here.
“Of course if you have less access to guns, then it leads to less mass shootings” you don’t say… if someone has no access to something then obviously there wouldn’t be a real applicable stat for it… and stating this just after saying how the U.S. accounts for +70% of Mass shootings worldwide just voids your entire argument