Mass shootings are not going away

Twenty-five days into the new year, there has already been 947 deaths from gun violence. If using the FBI definition of a mass shooting (more than four people being shot in one event, excluding gang violence or familicide), there have been twenty-one mass shootings in that time. Gun related deaths now account for 68% of homicides per year in the US. Before 2011, there was an average of 200 days between mass shootings (using the term in that four or more people are killed), now there are 64 days. Is America becoming more violent? According to 84% of the population, it is more divided now than 10 years ago, but violence is in line with that of the 1970s and the amount of gun crime, in general, is close to that of the 1990s. However, the number of mass shootings is at an all-time high.

It is not a surprise that gun ownership is correlated to gun crime, even if the US is excluded in analysis. The US is home to 4.4% of the world population but 42% of the world’s guns; there are 88.8 guns per 100 inhabitants. It is common to have impulsive thoughts and heightened emotions; this can give rise to rash, violent actions. In most countries, weapons will peak at knife attacks which, whilst serious, are not usually fatal. For example, in the UK there is more knife crime but fewer deaths linked to homicide (4.96/million population in the US, 3.26/million in the UK). These same emotions with a gun can cause chaos. Guns are more lethal than knives. Looking at suicides, we see the same pattern, guns are more lethal. If survived, 93% of suicide victims do not die from suicide afterwards. Gun suicides are much more common than gun homicides.

The National Rifle Association (NRA) have frequently argued that the best method to decrease gun related deaths is ‘a good guy with a gun’, however, as stated above, it is statistically proven that more guns means more gun deaths. The NRA pressured the government to suppress spending on analysis of gun crime in the US, creating an amendment in 1992. Donald Trump received a hefty donation from the NRA during his campaign, with estimates from $30 million to $55 million. A large proportion of this went to quash Hillary Clinton who promised to impose tighter gun control. All this is occurring at the same time that 60% of those with mental health issues do not receive help.

So what makes a mass shooter? The first documented mass shooting happened in Georgia, 1915 when a man came into altercation with his solicitor over monetary issues, shot him and four bystanders. That burst of anger ended with five dead. The first school mass shooting is said to have occurred in 1891, Mississippi, when an unknown gunman shot 14 students. The next was not until 1966, in Austin, Texas, known as the University of Texas tower shooting; a student shot and killed 15 people before being shot dead by the police. Some shooters have copied these behaviours, citing previous killers as inspirations for their malice. With media naming the killers, they become infamous and others long to follow in their footsteps to ‘stardom’.

There is a trend among shooters, they seem to be: a white male who is an ‘injustice collector’, brooding with resentment. That is, they feel entitled to whatever they desire, may not be confident enough to seek it and despise those around them who have what they want. To them they are outsiders, looking in on what they will never have. They feel that those deemed more fortunate than themselves must pay for their fortune, whilst the offender plans to die via police suicide. These observations are mainly taken from manifestos or videos that the perpetrators left behind. Whilst not all leave such information behind, research into their lives can reveal similar experiences and beliefs. It is important to raise the issue with media attention along with infamy; the constant coverage of such disasters often shows the names and faces of these killers. There are forums based on declaring love for killers, empathising with their ‘pain’, longing to ‘cure’ them (seriously, see Tumblr). Notoriety comes with such attention, it needs to stop, in naming these people you give them exactly what they want- fame.

‘Red Flag’ laws have been put into place in thirteen states around the US, allowing authorities to remove guns from those showing signs of violent tendencies or crisis-like symptoms. Family members, loved ones and, police can petition for an Extreme Risk Protection Order, which allows authorities to seize weapon. Once in place, the orders can be final or temporary; if final, the person in question can plea for their arms, this is three months if temporary. These laws are helping to curb violence in these areas; in Maryland police have seized 148 guns in three months of enacting the law. The act has already helped to lower gun suicide rates in both Connecticut and Indiana from those predicted using past data (13.7% and 7.5% lower, respectively). However, they have been met with criticism with gun rights activists claiming they are a violation of the Fourth Amendment, ‘right…to be secure in their persons… effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures’. Nonetheless, through the petition process a warrant is either granted or not- making the confiscation legal. It is difficult to predict whether this law can reduce the frequency of mass shootings in America as psychologist Benjamin Winegard says ‘There is no evidence on what differentiates a bitter, aggrieved man from a bitter, aggrieved and dangerous man’.  Who can say what will push a person to commit such an act? Just because someone is resentful and obnoxious, does that mean that they will become the next mass shooter?

I went into this piece thinking that I may find a missing piece to the puzzle, a reason for the deep love of guns in America or a motivation to keep them after the atrocities suffered at the face of them, but I haven’t. I cannot seem to find a reason to have one, other than an archaic right to bear them. There are little to no regulations to buy a gun, and with money being funnelled from NRA to the government at the current rate, I do not foresee it happening. Current media reporting on such events help to reinforce the fame gained from carrying out these attacks; future news should not name the perpetrators or show their faces. The lack of attention may discourage future shooters, showing that attacks do not give them a legacy, just a sentence. So far, I believe that Red Flag laws are the best way forward in decreasing not only mass shootings but suicides as well. In a country enamoured with guns, this compromise allows for some safety while maintaining the Second Amendment.