Has there been an increase in mass shootings and, if so, who or what is really to blame for causing them?
These are questions that no one in the mainstream media or anti-gunner camps are asking. Those people seem to just assume that they already know the answer (often despite the facts of the situation which say otherwise), and that is all that you will hear out of them.
Well, first we need to address the first question: has there actually been an increase in the number of mass shootings? The answer is no. Don’t believe your anti-gun friends when they tell you otherwise. Look into the research yourself. For example, Zaid Jilani gives us this perspective:
Criminology professor James Alan Fox and doctoral student Emma Fridel charted the path of mass shootings and school shootings over three decades, from 1992 to 2015. They used a variety of government and nonprofit data sources, including data collected by the FBI, USA Today, and Everytown for Gun Safety, an organization that advocates for gun reform. Their research is the basis of a chapter that will be published in an upcoming book on school violence, “The Wiley Handbook on Violence in Education.”
They found that schools are actually increasingly free of mass shootings, which they define as a shooting in which four or more individuals are killed by firearms. “There is not an epidemic of school shootings,” Fox said in a statement about the research, noting that there were four times as many children shot and killed in schools in the early 1990s as today.
More children are killed every year drowning in pools or in bicycle accidents than in school shootings, Fox added.
It’s worth noting that other comments from these researchers indicate that they support gun control, but, as Fridel put it, “mass murders are so rare that they should not be driving policy.”
So, the next question we might want to ask is why does it seem like there are more shootings (when that is not the case) and why do people do it?
Obviously, it’s difficult to give a blanket statement about the mental health (or lack of) of people who do this other than to say that they are sick. However, it seems clear that there is a group of people who are partly to blame for the shootings that we hear about: the mainstream media. Alan Gottlieb of the the Second Amendment Foundation says,
There has been some research that indicates an increase in such events when an initial incident is sensationalized.
So it appears, that the media may be partly to blame in all of this. That’s certainly not something I would be proud of. We certainly recognize the duty of the media to legitimately report the news, and the press must remain free to do its job. Maybe all we’re suggesting is that the media be as responsible with their First Amendment rights as they demand gun owners should be when exercising their Second Amendment rights.
So, even though mass shootings have decreased and schools are very safe environments overall, many Americans believe that mass shootings have increased, and some nutcases have taken to committing these awful crimes in an effort to get this kind of media attention.
So, do you want to know who is really to blame for mass shootings? Of course, it is on the crazy people who commit the shootings, but the mainstream media has set up an environment which encourages sick people to find a sick way to get attention. Instead of trying to ban guns, maybe we should hold the media accountable to actually tell the truth.
The media is accountable for choosing the right way to tell the truth, and that is the problem, it’s not pointing at the second Amendment.
seems like nutty progressive snowflakes are the shooters
(LEFTISTS TRAITOR’S!!😀😉)
Excellent article and the conclusions are right on point. The mass media today, almost entirely populated by people of the last three generations, reflect one of the most pressing problems in our society. They, like the miscreants committing these crimes were apparently never taught the principle that “with great freedom comes great responsibility” and that everyone, including them, has to take PERSONAL responsibility for their actions. They need to have the statement made long ago by Pogo imprinted on their brains, “We has met the enemy, and we is it!”
Do Not give shooters names. These sick folks want attention do not give it to them.
The media is to blame…overly zelas reporting and making headlines of a crazy bastard reinforces the the notion of fame for this sick SOB. Giving them the attention and fanfare makes it seem a quick easy way to get their sick nuttie asses on the TV news and headlines in papers across America. Instead of all the notoriety of this type action down play the individual and call them out for execution (hanged by the neck until dead) at the quickest possible timeframe. Call them out for the Scum they are!!!
Did anyone ever hear of the Promise Program?? Madecby Obama and Holder
THE LEFTIST MEDIA’S. HITMAN!!
these mambee pambee,s. would poop their pants full, if it happen to them, with out protection and cry. oh please not me ,I’m sooo good…… B.S.
If the FBI and Sheriffs Dept. would have done their JOBS we would not of had 17 people MURDERED. This was nothing more than a display of Incompetence and Cowardice.
Exactly!
After 20 years in the army, with 2 1/2 yrs in Vietnam, I think I am safe in saying that I have NEVER SEEN SEEN A GUN KILL OR EVEN HURT ANYONE!
The media lives by the attitude that “if it don’t bleed, it don’t read.”. One wacko can be front page garbage for more than a week. Page print is slipping into history. News services have become rather laughable. And unfortunately the American public becomes more easily led every year. That’s why we have such as Hillary, Chuckle poo, Larry the sweetie, everyone’s fav Song Bird / Coward
McCain, and who can forget the botox queen herself Pelosi. Come on out Nancy…..
Then too there’s always removing God from our lives, gratuitously glorifying violence in music, film, and TV, spending hundreds of dollars so our kids can condition themselves to be mass murderers in the basement for several hours per day…
We all know the left wins when these things happen. And that they are an ends-justify-the-means crowd.
Just a crazy idea, but since so many crazy ideas have proven to be truth after all, what technology have we all learned about decades ago that can influence the behavior of a subject watching a film? Now how hard would it be to use that in video games which are hooked to the Internet and capable of ‘updates’ to send a rampage command to a number of brains that are already conditioned to the response?
If this were the case, it would not be surprising if these events came in clusters.
wayne Mar 8, 2018 at 1:07 pm
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WHY the Hell are we talking about gun sales? that is the least of the problem, Up to 99% of guns used for crimes are stolen from good legal Americans homes and car jacking crimes robberies and ex: How do we stop the thief from stealing is the number one problem!! Lets work on this first and 50 % of the gun crimes will vanish. THIS IS GOOD SINCE !!! Not leaving honest people to the hands of the thief . If you go into the bank to cash you pay check and woops you feel a hard thing pushing into your back , the first thing you do is to do what ever that hard thing tells you to do right? well what if you are the thief and you draw you gun in the bank and you hear a lot if racks and clicks what are you going to do? You are most likely drop to the floor throwing you gun away from yourself that’s what. If he or she has brains little enough to try to do a robbery then they surly will have brains enough to know that they hear a gun racking, right? so the moral of this story is every one who is legal wants to carry has a drop on thief’s, rapists, and killers and such. the bad guy is going to have a very hard look at their pray before the even think about doing the crime. ( so in conclusion of this gun problem we have we can at least stop 50% or more in view of the near future and less in the far future, to allow good citizens to be armed when it may be to their best interest ).
The problem is that the insane mind should not be free to walk and buy firearms. People who have undergone therapy and have a dx of a mental disability that prevents them from interacting correctly with other humans and animals should be on a list and given to businesses who sell firearms and I assure you things would slow down. In fact, anyone who is on antipsychotics should be on that list due to the increasing incidence of being a danger to self.
The MEDIA for making the mass shooter famous, The authorities for taking discipline for bad behavior away from parents and Schools. Making punishment for crime a joke. Bring back the Death Penalty for capitol crime, prison road crews picking up litter ETC instead of inmates sitting in an air conditioned room watching Oprah of Whoopi bad mouth our President etc.!!
Nit only them, but wht hasn’t antone broight up , let’s say Nintendo, or Hollywierd? Kids are being desensitized to kling thru these so called games, and the movies they watch. When they see people blown apart in a game or in a movie, then next month they see that same “ACTOR” in another movie or when the reset button is pressed, they believe that death is a make believe thing. You can shoot somebody and next week they’ll back up like nothing happened.
Here’s a thought for the game system makers, make the games completely interactive. Make those types of games to where they can only be played in a body suit that delivers a strong shock or blow when they get shot and keeps that pain flowing until the game is over. And the movies, take away the play guns and make them use live rounds. I’m betting that the Hollywierdos would stop using guns to get rich. I find it sad that the elites have taken to using scenes of war , death and mayhem to pad their wallets. If they had to use the real thing and face the consequences of glorifying murder, perhaps sensibility would out way the desire to pad their wallets at our kids expense.
Good article I have always said this is the reason and I know I’m right. If the MSM wouldn’t keep harping on these shootings giving the shooter more publicity. then maybe it would stop.
look at who is doing them all Democrats trying to get guns banned when they took ed prayer out and quit spanking the kids this is what we got not what we wanted
Liberal lawyers (and/or) politicians (most being lawyers) who make their money putting criminals back on the street and keeping them from being punished are responsible for this. Criminals have nothing to fear from the law because they know that these liberal-Marxist politicians and lawyers will protect them. Also, are we really to believe that these liberal/Marxists gun-grabbers are not setting up or instigating such shootings so they can scream for “gun control.” Gun control really does not concern guns, it really means control of the American sheeple who cannot defend themselves.
It’s really funny with cops standing outside he could shoot that many people and leave school and walk down street before being caught. Sounds like set up.paid by democrats.all they have to do is fence schools.put armed security guard at gate with medal detector to protect students. But they want to take guns away from good people. But they will never get them from crooks. Why did Obama put a wall around his house in Washington? Has armed guards to. Remember the jews were stripped of there guns. Stripped naked and one by one shot to death. Democrats want to take everything you have and redistribute it to everyone that wants freebees
The left is to blame for every shooting in America for the la d t 30 years. You cam lay all the blame squarely on their shoulders. They are trying to blame the NRA. That is a lie.
Strange to note that in the above text, Professor James Alan Fox and Doctoral Student Emma Fridel characterize Everytown For Gun Safety as an organization, “that advocates for gun reform” seems a most interesting twist of the English language and then facts of the matter. Actually this Everytown For Gun Safety, is a Bloomberg funded anti gun mob. Having followed the ins and outs, the ups and downs of Gun Control/Anti Gun Apparachnicks for some time now, I find their use of the term “gun reform” curious indeed. EXACTLY! What do the professor and his assistant mean when they apply to he term “gun reform” to a bunch whose operational goals are plainly destroying the right of the private citizen to own, possess, keep and use arms. What indeed do they mean. Clarification please.
Mass shooters and to blame for mass shootings!
I have a problem with Gun Control! The Anti-Gunners are trying to make us believe that a piece of machinery is the cause of the problem. A firearm does not have a soul or a mind of it’s own and is not self-aware it must be used by a human being to function. In the 1950’s their were very few mass shootings at schools or anywhere else and during that time frame young adults carried shotguns and rifles to go hunting after school for dinner and were kept in their trucks/cars or stored in a classrooms closet for afterschool use. What has changed is society. Latch key children since both parents must work to afford the items their children demand, violent video games, violent movies, violent TV programs, use of mind altering drugs all of these things dehumanize the human condition. On top of this liberals tell us that we should not discipline our children and pass laws that will put a parent in jail if someone see’s a parent disciplining a child in public! NOW HOW HAS THIS WORKED OUT?? In my opinion not very well. We as a society have failed our children by not giving them direction and assistance figuring out who and what they are. You cannot fix a problem by trying to cure a symptom. Only by finding the root cause can a problem be fixed and the firearm is not the root cause no matter what the liberal media and politicians are trying to make you believe.
FBI Claims “EFFICENCY” HOWEVER: demonstrates “GROSS INEFFICENCY”! Their Dam has holes a Aircraft carrier can float through!
The school shootings are massive tragedies. There is no one explanation. Disturbed youngsters growing up in a society where guns are glorified doesn’t help. Disconnected parents who fail to monitor their children is also a contributing factor. The media unwisely over publicizes these incidents thereby igniting some desperate need for attention in these youngsters. Semi-automatic weapons do not belong in any home. Rifles and shotguns satisfy the needs of hunters and those wanting a device for home security. Having a dog also helps protect a home. More mental health providers are needed to address the increasing rate of emotionally disturbed youngsters. This serious problem has no simple answer, but needs multiple approaches to solve it. Some restrictions on gun purchses is logical. The NRA has no right to be tax exempt. It has no business in politics. Citizens United needs to be revoked to eliminate non-human entities from influencing American politics. It is time for we the people to work collaboratively work to protect our children and our future.
“The NRA…has no busness in politics. Citizen’s United needs to be revoked to eliminate non-human entities from influencing American politics.”
That is the real reason liberals push gun-control – because they want to institute political oppression and they don’t want an armed citizenry to resist them. There are no “non-human entities”. All political organizations are comprised of people.
Understand, the liberals and media, if they were to get unchecked power, would prosecute those who disagree with them and who exercise their political freedom. That is why they don’t want people owning any arms that could be used to resist tyranny.
I am reluctant to attack a fundamental freedom like freedom of the press. However, the press and the media these days are more likely to attack freedom than defend it.
That being said, there is more danger of inspiring copycat killings from news coverage than inspiring killings from violent video games. Why?
When people watch TV (and to a lesser extent when they read), they go into a semi-hypnotic state where they are open to suggestion. (Watch people when they watch TV, how engrossed and mentally passive they become.)
Unlike video games, where the violence portrayed is shooting enemy soldiers or zombies and such, the news portrays and repetitively reports upon the SPECIFIC act of mass shooting innocent civilians.
Because of the semi-hypnotic state of the viewer and the repetition of portrayal of specific acts, the suggestive power of the mega-mass manipulative mainstream media is far more likely to result in a weakminded, bitter or crazy individual commiting a mass murder after watching too much TV and media coverage, than by playing too much video game.
Search terms: copycat killings media coverage suicides
L think that big Pharma has a lot to do with it. Anti depressants, anti hyper, Pain killers, and the other drugs that alter ones thinking. The doctors are passing them out (at a hefty price) like candy.
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