Mass School Shootings: A Case Study

The mean number of victims per mass shooting incident is not significantly different between the 1990s, the 2000s, and the 2010s (so far). Also, the mean number of victims per mass shooting incident is not significantly different between Republican-leaning states and Democratic-leaning states. Finally, the difference in average number of victims per mass shooting incident between Republican-leaning states and Democratic-leaning states does not change across decades.

Unfortunately, the notion of schools being a safe place is no longer a trend across American schools. Disturbing mass shootings in the U.S continue to shock the media. A school shooting is when someone attacks a school using a gun. The Secret Service says these shootings are "deliberately selected as the location for the attack". The reasons massacres occur in schools is because of poor security, violence in video games/media, and bullying. Shockingly the U.S. has the most school shootings than any other country in the world. According to the FBI, mass shootings occur, on average, every 2 weeks in the U.S. While the cause of school shootings are sometimes unpredictable, it is a growing issue and they need to be prevented. Most shooters don’t have mental issues, they have a plan to kill, so there is no singular cause that creates violent people. On April 16th, 2007, the most deadly school massacre occurred. Seung-Hui Cho killed thirty-two students at Virginia-Tech. As Americans, we no longer should turn on the news and witness these gruesome murders. We try to make sense of these murders, but it’s ineffectual. There are measures we can take as a society to help. The number one question in a school massacre is, "why would a person that has a capable sense of mind even do that?” It is our moral responsibility to fix these issues. In order to stop this problem, we need to find its roots.

Most of the history about this subject only goes back 70 years ago. Before that, no one knew what mass shootings were. These events were not normally committed during those times. This subject is a relatively new concept predominantly found in the U.S. In a recent study, it shows that we are the leading country for mass-shootings (Willingham). Following our country is the Philippines, with a difference of 72 shootings (Willingham). But it does not stop there. These events are rising with new mass shootings such as the Las Vegas Shooting, which is now the largest one in our country's history with over 50 deaths and over 500 injuries (Yan, et. al.). Even though these shootings are not near Thomasville, they still hit home. These circumstances could easily strike in our town with not time to plan, but to plan, but we could prevent them. Most of these events are mainly located in California,

“Shooting massacres” in school settings, a new phenomenon within the past 50 years, are extremely rare events. Over 23 years, 1990-2012, 215 fatal school shooting incidents resulted in 363 deaths, equivalent to 0.12% of national firearm homicides during that time period …… Among these, just three shooting rampages – Columbine High School, Virginia Tech University, and Sandy Hook Elementary School – accounted for 72 (53.3%) of these 135 deaths. The frequency of random/ rampage shooting incidents in schools has remained within the narrow range of 0 to 3 episodes per year.” (Shultz, et al., 2013, p. 84)

Recently in America a tragedy occurred in San Bernardino, 14 people were murdered by 2 people that allegedly had ties to ISIS. Although officers responded in a matter of minutes, that speed isn’t always available, especially in rural areas. Is this the beginning of a change in America? I believe this is so and I also believe mass shootings should be addressed more specifically school shootings because the means of protection aren’t there. “Since 2013, there have been at least 161 school shootings in America- an average of nearly one a week.” (161 School Shootings in America Since 2013. everytownresearch.org.) That statistic includes 3 Indiana schools St. Mary’s Catholic School in Griffith, Indiana on 4/21/14, Purdue University on 1/21/14 and Indiana State on 9/29/14, also a high school in Louisville, Kentucky a day after the Indiana State shooting. These aren’t just happening on the west coast or down in Florida where the news only talks about, the places that seem to never be close, they’re happening close to home

Mass shootings have become an even larger problem, they have become more frequent, and the increased amount of shootings illustrates one of society 's biggest flaws: no value for human life. According to Mother Jones, and the facts that they obtained from Harvard, it is believed that in 1982, about 172 days separated one mass shooting from another, but since 2011, that has changed. Now, it is common for these incidents to take place once every 64 days (Rate of Mass Shootings Has Tripled Since 2011 Harvard Research Shows). From these numbers it is evident that the mass shootings have become more common, at an unbelievable rate. The number of days between shootings that occur now are

On Wednesday June 18, 2015 nine shot dead at a historical black church in Charleston, South Dakota and only a month later on July 16, 2015 in Chattanooga, Tennessee with five dead leaving citizens devastated. The past year contains more than 350 mass shootings, averaging 1.02 shootings per day and continuous growing number of deaths, multiple mass shootings around the world leaving dozens of victims in its path. There is no exact definition of mass shootings, but most sources believe it is when four or more people are shot in one location. Citizens in America are easily able to obtain a gun and the growing issue is whether this should change and stronger laws in place. Although citizens believe gun control laws take away second amendment and right to protect themselves, mass shootings are increasing yearly and action needs to happen to prevent the next attack.

The proposal to the problem focus on mass shootings specifically, not gun violence in general, although the potential solutions to mass shootings would do much to prevent gun violence as a whole. Mass shootings represent a mere 2% of gun-related deaths, yet the sheer horror, shock, and scale of carnage tend to capture the public’s attention so much more so than the typical shooting homicide or suicide, which are seemingly ubiquitous in news reports these days. The big issue with solving the problem of mass shootings is the variety of factors involved with the shooters’ motivations to kill.

Two of the most hot-button issues faced in the 2016 election included abortion rights and gun control. Since President Trump’s election these issues have remained at the forefront of political discussion. With several months still remaining, 2017 had already claimed the reputation for the deadliest year for mass shootings in America’s history (Wilson, 2017). We began 2017 with six killed in the Ft. Lauderdale airport and progressed, to 58 killed in Las Vegas at the Route 91 Harvest Festival, to the most recent incident that left 26 dead in a Texas church. In addition to these three most notable events, there have been many other shootings that have brought the causality total to 112 with 531 wounded from mass shootings alone (Wilson, 2017). These senseless deaths left the American public emotionally drained and searching for a solution to a problem that the government is hesitant to proactively address, but rather leaves to the individual state’s discretion.

The mental health system in The United States is flawed and needs serious reform. Many of the mentally ill are failing to seek the help that they need and deserve in a country like the U.S is baffling and must be reassessed. The system causes a rise in gun violence and more specifically, mass shootings. There are many factors that need to be taken into consideration when approaching mental disorders and their correlation with mass shootings. Things such as type of mental disorder, the widespread diagnosis in the US, masculinity in men, and gun laws themselves. This research was done through a series of articles, interviews, and books. Mental disorders need to be taken largely into consideration when trying to find a cause for a shooting, and

Nine students were killed at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon. A man opened fire in a church, in Charleston, South Carolina, killing nine people, including the pastor. Twenty-seven were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. Twelve were killed in the Washington Navy Yard. This is only a few examples from a very long list. The grim truth is that mass shootings are becoming the new normal. Every few months, another mass shooting occurs and the public goes through the same routine of mourning, honoring, and ultimately debating. What causes these manic episodes of multiple, indiscriminate gun deaths? Some push for more gun control, others argue that the U.S. mental health system is a failure. Controversy aside,

Mass shootings have been around forever. One of the most common mass shootings is schools and they keep getting worse and worse. According to USA Today “Mass killings happen every two weeks and since 2006, there have been more than 200 mass killings in just the U.S. Surprisingly majority of mass killings are family related. Over half of mass killings are done with people that have mental illness”. The government and politicians are now trying to make gun control a important issue in presidency debates. Having more security all around schools and other public places can stop Mass shootings.

School shootings have grown and become a big problem for the United States over the past four to five years. The issue is a hotly debated topic and has divided people because of their views. The truth is, there isn’t just one answer to this problem and people are so worried about their views and their guns they are slowing the rate of change. To truly reduce the number of shootings we need to, stop bullying in schools, improve support for the victims of bullying, make the ability to obtain a fully automatic weapon more difficult for the mentally ill, create a checklist or steps for schools to identify and deal with the problem, ban certain weapon accessories, and improve school safety.

I think in today’s society we are experiencing and hearing more about mass shootings all around the world. When I used to hear about shootings I used to get shocked. Every shooting mass is a tragedy but I think as a society we are getting used to it just because it is happening more and more often. I think we cannot prevent tragedies like this, but we can help to prevent by maybe gun control or effective funded of mental health programs. My insurance covers just a certain percentage of mental and behavior health services.

On October 1, 2017 America was, yet again, devastated when Las Vegas suffered the United States worst mass shooting. One man killed over 50 people and injured 527. After he was finished firing from the 39th floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort, he committed suicide. His name was Stephan Paddock (Yan and Park). When most people think of a mass shooting, they think of a terroristic act or someone shooting at a large group of innocent citizens, like Columbine High School or Sandy Hook Elementary School. In actuality, most people do not realize that whenever two or more people are injured or killed by a gun, it is considered a mass shooting. These “mass shootings” happen every day in America and they are one of the leading causes of death in