Mass Shootings Are Happening?

The article Shootings by Adam Gopnik depicts the correlation between mass murders and media to be a social gathering in which citizens from all around the world bandwagon onto debates to form “crusades”. Adam emphasises that media sources only shine light upon topics of gun violence and mass shootings in a overly exaggerated tone, rather than finding an appropriate solution. Adam attepmted to propose that media only brodcrasts pinpointed topics that grabs public attention to make headlines by focusing the characteristics of the Virgina Tech’s shooter’s mental illness. According to Adam (2007) “... much of the conversation was devoted to musing on the treatment of mental

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,

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.

Mass shootings have become one of the most fearful events that could happen in elementary schools, high schools, and College campuses. These violent actions committed by a number of individuals have happened for many years and will continue happening unless prevented. Individuals like James Holmes opened fire in a Colorado movie theater, killing twelve individuals and injuring twenty, John Sawahri shot five students dead in Santa Monica College also injuring four individuals. However Eric Harris and Dylan Kleibold executed the most horrific act of school violence in United States History. These two individuals managed to take the lives of twelve students, a teacher and managed to take their own life in the process. This act of crime has spread through America, leaving no one safe.

It's no secret that shootings are a big problem within the United States, especially when comparing to other countries. Whether it be school shootings or mass shootings, it's become almost a regular occurrence. The more shootings that occur, more evidence increases relating gun violence to race. According to Statista, between 1982 and February 2018, 56 out of 97 mass shootings were the

Most of the recent shootings seem to be contagious as their shooters’ plans and motives are almost all quite alike. These shooters have set a “stereotypical shooter” profile. They are typically male, white, and around the age of 20. Of all the mass shootings, only one was done by a woman (Mass Shootings in the U.S.). They are usually quite smart, part of a middle class family, and are normally quiet, lonely, and introverted. They are almost always socially awkward and have few-no friends. Yet, no one expects them to kill others as they are quiet. These shooters keep everything to themselves which may be one of the reasons why they are full of hatred. Often, they consider suicide, yet they refuse to talk to any sort of counselor. They are almost always constantly on a computer, frequently playing violent video games. Their shooting plan is almost always pre-meditated far in advance. They plan to make their shooting “great” and to ‘gain fame’ for their mass shooting. After the shooting, most commonly, they kill themselves.

With all of the violence that has arose in the last couple of years, the growing question arises: what causes someone to perform mass shootings? According to the Cable News Network, since 2010 there have been a total of 10 mass shootings in the United States. That is 156 total lives that have killed thanks to mass shootings (CNN). I’m trying to get down to the crux of the situation, the thing that gets to people while they are young and stays with them for the rest of their lives: violence in the media.

The United States is not lacking in notable mass shootings over the years, and it is difficult to narrow it down. The LA Times posted an article on December 2, 2015 entitled Deadliest U.S. Mass Shootings 1984-2015. This article lists 46 “notable mass shootings” over the past 31 years. These are shootings that have become household names, they are shootings that the majority of people have heard of, and have at least some knowledge of. Of the 46 shootings that they consider to be notable mass shootings, for the purposes of this paper I would only consider 40 of them to be notable mass shootings. I have eliminated 6 of the incidences seeing that I do not believe they fit the criteria of a mass shooting. The six that I have eliminated do not fit the definition

Many news outlets and gun control advocates have been inflating the statistics for mass shootings by saying there has been more than one mass shooting per day (Follman). Mark Follman from Mother Jones claims “...many news outlets keep declaring that there have been upwards of ‘355 mass shootings this year’...it’s stirring undue fear and may be encouraging bad policies...if you count using the federal government’s current criteria...there have been six mass shootings this year”. By using the federal government’s definition of a mass shooting, the data proves that the media has been inflating the statistics by almost 6000%. Follman claims that the effect of this is it’s “stirring undue fear and may be encouraging bad policies”, showing that the media may be influencing the government itself. If the media influences the government in a negative way, then this subjectivity and false information should be controlled in order to have the government make the right

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,

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.

The United States will not soon forget the rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut that occurred just two weeks before Christmas in 2012. This tragic results in the death of twenty students and eight adults. These public acts are bloodcurdling. They create an invisible fear to society. Mass shootings are usually very frightening and receive nation attention because they are often unpredictable. Although the massacre shocked the nation, they are nothing new. In the United States, mass shootings do not happen quite often. Nevertheless, the media coverage often overstates the incident through various methods to hype the scare. When a shooting occurs, the media would not only report the bloody details, attach horrible pictures,

In my essay, I argue that the media, in particular the news, has a bigger influence in mass shootings then other stimuli like; access to guns, violent video games, and mental illness. By exploring the news’ role in mass shootings we can begin to discuss the changes that can be made in the way they broadcast. While the news believes they are just doing their duty and reporting the news while also honoring the victims, there really just honoring the perpetrator. With the news portraying the culprit as a hero, relieving what and how many weapons he used, and the amount of people he or she killed they help encourage future perpetrators to “beat the score”.

With technology advancing everyday, we are able to get the most recent and breaking news at the tip of our fingertips daily. We can get news on how the elections are advancing, the most recent terrorist attack, really anything. The media is always first to report on an incident and whether it is on our phones or televisions, we are always aware on what is going on in the world. An event that really grabs the medias attention are mass shootings that occur at schools. The most recent ones have been Sandy Hook and Oregon’s Umpqua Community College, and though those both had many victims and were traumatic, they are only examples of the most deadly school massacres.

When news outlets document media in great detail, such as a shooting or a suicide, by the news and other media, according to the article “Media coverage of mass violence” page 1, “there is a two-week period following in which imitations become significantly more likely.” (1) This is called the contagion effect. To circumvent this, media reporters should follow guidelines, such as being more brief with their report, or omitting the person's information.