The mass shooting has become a big issue in the United States. After shootings like the one that happened in Newtown, Connecticut all Americans come together to look for ways to actually prevent mass shootings to happened. “Mass shootings are defined as the killing of four or more victims Rates of Mass shootings have risen dramatically in the last few years. Since 2006, there have been more than 200 mass killing in the United States.” (Usatoday.com) Due to the big increase in mass shootings a question is still debatable. Are these mass shootings due to environmental factors or genetics?
Environmental factors
Some people debate that environmental factors have a huge role in mass shootings. “The discussion of mass shootings in the news
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“Children observe the people around them behaving in various ways. This is illustrated during the famous Bobo doll experiment Children pay attention to what adults do and observe their behavior. After, they may imitate the behavior they have observed. They may do this regardless of whether the behavior is ‘gender appropriate ' or not, but there are a number of processes that make it more likely that a child will reproduce the behavior that its society deems appropriate for its sex” (Bandura, 1961). Certain situations impact a person life leading them to different paths.
Genetic Factors
With each tragedy that happens, we have more questions and more concerns. To what extent does generics have to do with the behavior of the individual that commits this types of crimes. It is more complicated than it seems when it comes down to analyzing genetics factors related to these individual. “Evidence shows that mass shooters are often mentally ill.”( Metzl,2015) “Torrey, a psychiatrist, claimed that "about half of . . . mass killings are being done by people with severe mental illness, mostly schizophrenia.”(Torrey,2015) “Schizophrenia is a serious disorder which affects how a person thinks, feels and acts. Someone with schizophrenia may have difficulty distinguishing between what is real and what is imaginary. Scientists have long known that schizophrenia runs in families. The illness
Emotional wellness issues have been frequently shown another big cause of these shootings. Most school shooters were mentally sick or demonstrated side effects of psychological wellness issues. An opportunity for mental and psychiatric help could help stop these shootings. According to newyorker.com, ¨, from 2011 and 2013, more people believe that mass shootings result from a failure of the mental-health system than from easy access to guns. Eighty per cent of the population believes that mental illness is at least partially to
Recently there have been many school shootings throughout the United States and the world. Most of these shooting were all connected with the shooter being on anti-depressant medications. In an article called “Medicated to death: by SSRI’s and mass killings” by Lisa Arbercheski, she writes that SSRI’s are linked to the cause of most shootings. Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI) is one of the most popular medications taken for depression in many countries. Some are known by their popular names like Prozac, Zoloft, Celexa, and Paxil. These medications have many tests done and none of them prove that they cure depression or mood swings. Could these medications be connected to some of the most recent shootings like the one in Newton, Connecticut? The case is that these medications are causing adolescents to go on suicidal rampage shootings and the United States is trying to play it off like the medications have no connection.
The chances of being a victim of a mass shooting are a little less than your odds at being struck by lightning (Fund, 2012). If you take a look at our nation’s history you will see that the rate at which these killings take place are on the decline. This fact begs the question then what are the similarities with all these mass murderers? Is it the mental-health aspect of these murderers that link them all together? Is there a connection between the mass murderers that somehow will allow us to find these people before the acts? Finally, what is the reason that these mass murders are taking place? Are they doing it for fame, love, revenge or power? All of these questions have sparked several studies about these murderers in order to figure out
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.
Mental Health is the root to numerous problems in America, how your brain deals with certain situations determines how sick or healthy our minds are. Based on a Washington Post-ABC News Poll of 808 adults, 57% agreed that the mass shootings were due to mental health issues whereas 28% said that it was due to inadequate gun control laws (SHEN). Almost 30% additional people thought that it was a mental health issue instead of a gun control issue. Since a larger portion of adults believe that mental health is the root to mass shootings a mental health test need to be complete on anyone who wants to carry or purchase a weapon.
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
In “Talking About Mental Health After a Mass Shootings is a Cop-out” (2017), Fareed Zakaria justifies the idea that the main issue causing mass shootings is a “cop-out”. Zakaria elucidates this assertion by explaining that mass shootings are unjustly blamed on mental health rather than guns or the intentions of the person, as well as providing data that supports the idea that “gun violence across the United States find a similarly tight correlation” (6). He uses facts derived from reliable data, that observe the relation of gun violence to gun laws, in order to convince the audience of the real issue, leading people to start blaming the real problem rather than mental health. Zakaria addresses those who unreasonably blame mental health because
The discussion of gun control has escalated rapidly over the last two decades, and has become very complex. Some people believe that there should be no guns, some believe we need more gun control, and some people believe there should be a ban on only certain guns. This makes for a multitude of opinions. To make the United States a “no gun” country is a task that would be nearly impossible. Many Americans, roughly 270 Million according to a Small Arms survey, own guns (Karp 1). Unfortunately, this number includes guns that are purchased illegally by individuals and groups such as gangs. To get rid of all those guns would not work without an enormous fight from lawful gun owners because taking away guns goes against the rights of every American
Mass shootings are increasing in frequency and expanding locations. They have occurred in movie theatres, elementary schools, college campuses, parties, and concert venues. A mass shooting is defined as an “event where at least four people are killed” (Martin). “According to a Harvard University study based on a database compiled by Mother Jones magazine, what used to be an average of 200 days between mass shooting deaths in the US has dropped to just over 60 since 2011” (Jonsson). Mass shootings have caused much confusion and fear for safety among people. The nation is divided on how to address mass shooting violence. Some people believe that more restrictive gun legislation is the answer, while others think less restrictive gun legislation is the answer. In reality, a multi-faceted government policy addressing both gun legislation and threat assessment/mental health treatment is needed to prevent mass shootings in the future.
There is no question that mass shootings are happening more frequently. The question is are they happening to often? They have become more common, but have always been a problem in the world. Shootings have been happening since the invention of guns, but as we come closer to our era mass shootings have been happening more regularly. These shootings need to be stopped and put an end to. But how can we as a whole all come together and put an end to it? The statistics and facts that are going to be used give valid reasons to where the shootings take place, how it happens and the number of casualties and lives taken from these shootings.
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.
In 2012 several mass shootings accrued which reignited gun-control and firearm ownership debates in the United States. There are more public mass shootings in the United States than in any other country in the world. Many of the shooters had a mental illness and most states do not require background checks for firearms purchased at gun shows from private individuals, which is known as the “gun show loophole”. This results in too many guns falling into the hands of dangerous people, which is why we need stricter regulations. Although many others think getting a stricter amendment on gun control violets our second amendment we still need to do something about this situation.
Since the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in December of 2012, there have been 998 bloody mass shootings in the United States (Gray). The imperfections of our society lead mankind to act out. When man is given the choice to behave the way they feel is right, evil will often consume them. Humans are readily becoming savages at the first chance they are given. We are able to see this happening frequently on the news. Man is undoubtedly flawed and highly influenced by society and it’s plentiful beliefs.
Staufenberg begins by highlighting the reasons the media is being looked at as the root cause of the problem. Mass shootings are escalating as well as the mass coverage of them due to higher ratings and advertiser sales. As a result of the media covering an abundance of mass shooting stories, young adults have been found to be obsessed with those mass murderers and have actually replicated their behavior. According to
Recent shootings have not been labeled as terrorism in the United States, but have ties to terrorist organizations.