There is a lot of information out there supporting the idea that mass media coverage only helps to fuel the issue. You can usually find articles supporting that on the same site running 24/7 shows and articles with big scary fonts and headlines about the shooting.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/11/mass-shootings-body-counts-media-1/
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/...cas-mass-shooting-epidemic-contagious/545078/
To me it seems like people have long had access to firearms but there seems to be a growing trend of mass shootings indicating that firearms alone are not the cause. Good luck getting anyone to focus on anything but the guns though
The thing is, yes, there absolutely are other factors at play, causing the increase and severity in these types of attacks. But saying having ready access to guns doesn't play a major role in enabling them is ignoring a factor as well. Lots of other places in the world have many of the same factors, yet because they've restricted guns, they do not regularly have mass shootings. And when mass shootings do occur there, they generally don't have a political party that refuses to take part in anything (discussion, let alone serious study) that links guns to gun violence. They do good investigation and then look at how to address what led to that situation and then actually try to implement the changes. Does it magically prevent such attacks from ever happening? Of course not, but it sure as hell has strongly limited them.
I feel that it's a mental illness. Not in the sense that the perpetrator should have been institutionalized even before the incident. And perhaps not even one their born with, but one they develop from the thoughts they have and its allowed to consume them. It comes from upbringing, and it's 100% the parents' fault in every case.
When a kid is able to plan something like this out and is able to obtain the weaponry to follow through with such plans, and the parents have no idea that it's going on, no idea that their 15 year old child has guns and ammunition in their bedroom, there is something seriously wrong in their household.
Being involved enough in your child's life to have their trust to tell you what's bothering them, and to guide them through the troubles they are experiencing in school, and ultimately to pick up on the warning signs is the key to stopping these things. Unfortunately, not everyone should have children.
I get what you're saying. And right, its not necessarily an outright established mental disorder, but I mean, its a madness that is unfathomable. I don't agree with the second part of that. Sorry, I won't say its 100% the parents' faults. I'm not saying they're blameless, but after dealing with my nephews, I can absolutely see how many parents (especially single parents, or even ones where both parents are having to work a lot) could miss a shitload of questionable behavior. Which, hell, I remember being a shithead teenager, and while I'd go back and kick my own ass plenty, I won't condemn everything as being indicative of anything other than immaturity. And I've known people that were shitty when they were younger (and not always because of abuse or other problems, sometimes its the opposite, like they had wealthy family with no real issues, but they just were immature and so were able to get away with shit) and turned into fine adults. And sadly too many that were vice versa, although most people I've known are, well they're not terrible, but they're not saints either.
I can largely agree with that, although a couple of slight caveats. First, sadly, there's still a lot of American households where a 15 year old having a gun and ammunition in his room isn't cause for any concern until the moment it is. The second one is that psychopaths are really good at hiding in plain sight. Many are outgoing, personable, even charming. They're able to put on a front. I'm not saying that's what these are, I'm just saying its a potential factor. They could be sweet around their parents, get ok grades, and otherwise present nothing alarming for the parents to cause them to look into. And, again, after dealing with my teenage nephews (not saying they're psychopaths, but they can be shitheads at times), I can tell you they're not above hiding shit quite well or doing other stupid shit that just leaves you shaking your head when you find out. Hell, even after there has been a concerted effort to keep tabs on them because of said behavior, they still find ways to surprise us with new shit. Thankfully nothing too terrible, but enough to cause consternation with them over pointlessly dumb behavior.
I fully agree with that. But I also know teenagers do not like that, for the most part in general. I didn't like when my family would pry into things. I wasn't up to anything, but I just wanted my own space and they wouldn't understand things (I don't mean in the typical "whaaaa, my mommy and daddy don't understand me!" teen angst, but more, like explaining projects I was working on at school and things like that). But they, and especially my Mom, did ask and she did check up, and that alone was meaningful and I knew even at the time she meant well. And she knew my friends and girlfriends and the like. And we do the same with the kids in the family. Of course it helps when its not just keeping tabs but because you genuinely care too.
It's pretty simple: guns are designed to kill, and they're not necessary in modern civilian life. People don't design pen caps, or cars, or most other objects to hurt other people. A pen cap certainly doesn't kill 58 people and injure 851 in the space of 10 minutes.
For reference: reportedly, about 100 people die from
choking on pen caps every year. About 84 people died from semi-auto rifles in the US in 2016, but that figure is likely to be considerably higher for 2017 courtesy of Las Vegas and other mass murders. And again, there's a big difference between accidentally choking on a pen cap and intentionally murdering dozens of people.
Have you seen the "tactical pens" and other shit that companies catering to gun nuts are making these days?
Just look at the marketing going on in gun magazines. Considering the NRA has continually tried to place the blame for this type of shit on the media, yet they openly court that type of hysterical irrationality in their own marketing and advertising, just tells you everything you need to know about their integrity. They are actively breeding this mentality and then demanding that others take responsibility for it.