Mass shooting

[[File:Tree Of Life memorials 6.jpg|thumb|right|165px|Memorials for the victims of the Tree of Life synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.]]
{{crimenav}}
'''Mass shooting''' means a number of people shot in the course of a single incident by a single criminal or a small group of criminals. The overarching goal for these individuals is to kill as many people as they can. Definitions including those of the (US) Congressional Research Service and [[FBI]] require four victims (deaths) excluding any shooter, and for the shootings to take place in locations close together.<ref>[https://crim.sas.upenn.edu/fact-check/what-mass-shooting-what-can-be-done What is a Mass Shooting? What Can Be Done?], University of Pennsylvania Department of Criminology Fact Check, accessed Mar 18, 2021</ref> Some definitions further restrict this to public areas (including schools and churches but not private homes), or exclude domestic violence, or drug or gang violence; limitations do not always accord with the common idea of a mass shooting.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/dec/13/what-counts-as-a-mass-shooting-the-dangerous-effects-of-varying-definitions What counts as a mass shooting? The dangerous effects of varying definitions], The Guardian, 13 Dec 2019</ref>

Greater gun availability does not prevent mass shootings.<ref>[http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/criminologist-six-things-you-should-know-about-mass-shootings Criminologist: Six Things You Should Know About Mass Shootings]</ref> Perpetrators are most of the time men while women and children are disproportionately the victims, girls more so than boys.<ref>[http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2016/06/16/maybe-we-should-outlaw-ownership-of-guns-by-men/ Maybe we should outlaw ownership of guns by men?]</ref>

==Perpetrators==
From over 50 years of mass shootings, researchers found the following 4 things in common with most mass shooters;<ref>[https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2019-08-04/el-paso-dayton-gilroy-mass-shooters-data Mass Shooter Data, LA Times Op-Ed]</ref>

*Early Childhood Trauma
*Identifiable crisis point
*Studied the actions of other shooters and sought validation for their rage
*Had access to a means of mass murder

In short, reducing the means (i.e., better gun control) is tackling only one part of the problem and we certainly should look into the other three issues, and stopping guns isn't foolproof if there are other means of mass murder. For example, the deadliest attack in Europe by a single person was not from a mass shooting, but from a truck ramming.<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36801671 Remembering the Nice truck attack]</ref> Once a new means is proven to be effective and the media starts reporting it, well, after the Nice ramming, a number of copycat mass murders ensued in spite of "renting a truck and driving it into people" having been a possibility since the invention of trucks.

For Early Childhood Trauma, it's not ''entirely'' avoidable, but could be reduced with more comprehensive (and competent) social services such as Child Protective Services.

A Crisis Point is often a fact of life for everyone, whether that's the inability to hold a job or [[Incel#Notable_homicides|maintain meaningful relationships]].  At best, this could certainly be reduced in a society that's more tolerant of otherwise-harmless oddballs or has a more robust social safety net such that crises are not as severe.

For Validation or Study, while care needs to be taken to avoid any Free Speech issues, there's no reason that society needs to have every mass murderer's mugshot and/or manifesto on the front page of all the newspapers.  In many ways, mass murderers ''want'' the attention,<ref>[https://www.center4research.org/copy-cats-kill/ Does Media Coverage Inspire Copy Cat Mass Shootings?], National Center for Health Research</ref> they want to know that for once in their life, the world cares about them.  That there will be millions of people reading about their situation, about their life, that they can ''force'' society to care no matter who has to get hurt in the process.

According to research done in 2024, over 80% of copycat shootings take place more than a year after the incidents of inspiration, with an "average delay" of eight years between inciting incidents and copycat shootings.<ref>{{cite web | last=Dolan | first=Eric W. | title=New research reveals an alarming fact about copycat mass shooters | website=PsyPost - Psychology News | date=2025-01-12 | url=https://www.psypost.org/new-research-reveals-an-alarming-fact-about-copycat-mass-shooters/ | access-date=2025-01-16}}</ref> This suggests that the influence of shooters tends to be pervasive and long-lasting. This research also found that copycat shooters tend to share similarities with their role models, including demographic traits and locations targeted. Copycat shooters are also more likely to share the same fates as their inspirations.

===Strain theory===

In Sociology, '''strain theory''' suggests that most antisocial behavior is the result of the gap between expectations and actual achievement.<ref>[https://www.simplypsychology.org/mertons-strain-theory-deviance.html Metron's Strain Theory], Psychology Today</ref>  The profile of most mass shooters does appear to fit this in some form, and 
the headless body of
 Dr Agnew came up with the '''general strain theory''' to describe this as the main cause of crime.<ref>[https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1745-9125.1992.tb01093.x FOUNDATION FOR A GENERAL STRAIN THEORY OF CRIME AND DELINQUENCY], Robert Agnew</ref>  Many men have the "expectation" they will have attractive girlfriends, good jobs, lots of respect from society, but when that never materializes and it becomes clear they will never achieve those things, well, some people try to get ahead by stealing or drug dealing.  Others want to vent their rage at the world that "betrayed" them by writing angry screeds online.  But for a few, this escalates further into mass murder.  For example, the Isla Vista shootings involved a [[Incel|young man who was furious that attractive women were not sleeping with him]], and decided that he would murder as many young women as he could, and most mass shooters appear to have some similar story of being angry at society in general for some perceived slight.  Does this sound suspiciously like terrorism?  Yes, yes it does, as noted again by Dr Agnew.<ref>[https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1362480609350163 A general strain theory of terrorism], Dr Agnew, 2010</ref>

==Media contagion==
{{cquote|To a much greater degree than is generally understood, there's strong evidence of a copycat effect rippling through many cases, both among mass shooters and those aspiring to kill. Perpetrators and plotters look to past attacks for not only inspiration but operational details, in hopes of causing even greater carnage.|||Mark Follman<ref>[http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/09/mass-shootings-threat-assessment-shooter-fbi-columbine While politicians do nothing, a growing legion of cops, psychologists, and federal agents is scrambling to stem the bloodshed.]</ref>}}

One of the most infamous criminals of the Ancient World<ref group=note>Whose name is well known to historians, but, given the whole reason for mentioning them, won't be</ref> burned down The Temple of Artemis.<ref group=note>One of the ''original'' Seven Wonders of the Ancient World</ref> Why? Because then they would be remembered ''forever'', which they sort of are.<ref>[https://www.thevintagenews.com/2017/03/21/the-story-of-herostratus-who-gave-his-name-to-those-who-commit-crimes-in-order-to-be-noticed/ The story of They Who Shall Not Be Named Here]</ref> The courts invented the rule of erasing someone from the history books as a result, [[Streisand effect|which obviously didn't ''quite'' work]], as we know who they are today.

The majority of mass murderers have the same motivation; to be known and remembered.<ref>[https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2016/08/media-contagion-effect.pdf "Mass Shootings and the Media Contagion Effect", by Jennifer Johnston, Ph.D. and Andrew Joy, BS, Western New Mexico University]</ref> In other words, mass shooters are motivated by ''coverage'' of mass shooters. They want to be That Guy whose face is plastered over television for weeks at a time, even if their name is a curseword, ''especially'' if their name becomes a curseword, and mass murder is just the means to that end. While some may try to be remembered for killing the largest number of people, others may try to be remembered for their depravity or novelty; Sandy Hook is only the 4th deadliest mass shooting in the US,<ref group="note">...so far</ref> Columbine isn't even in the top 10, but both are arguably more well known than the others. You could probably name Abraham Lincoln's assassin in spite of there only being a single murder. Media coverage of a mass shooting can also show future perpetrators ''how'' to do it, with the first mass murder being a sort of "proof of concept".  [[Extremist]] [[ideology]] can convince a person extreme violence is justified and many different ideologies can facilitate extreme violence.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/dec/10/mass-shootings-new-theories-media-extremist-ideology Crime profilers overhaul theories on motives after latest mass shootings]</ref>

The obvious solution of course? For the news media to ''stop making shooters famous''.<ref>[https://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/2018/2/22/17041382/school-shooting-media-coverage-perpetrator-parkland From Vox]</ref> When a shooting happens, stop focusing on the "villain" and instead focus on the "heroes" and victims, and prevent "being a mass murderer" from being a path to notoriety.

==Gun control==
{{main|Gun control}}
Tough state laws on gun procurement did not protect [[California]] from mass shootings because nearby states have much easier access to firearms and guns can be transported between states as easily as cars can.{{fact}} From 2009 to 2015 states insisting on background checks suffered 52% fewer mass shootings than states without background checks.<ref>[https://mic.com/articles/129652/criminologist-james-b-jacobs-on-san-bernardino-shooting-there-is-no-end#.gutAPRRFO A Criminologist Explains the Devastating Truth About Mass Shootings in America]</ref> Background checks also reduce the numbers of women shot dead during domestic violence and the number of police shot dead. The [[National Rifle Association]] pressured the US Federal government not to allocate funds for [[gun control]] research. One has to wonder what they have to hide.

==Causation myths==
===Fatherless homes===
According to the Secret Service, between 1974 and 2000, 63% of mass shooters lived with two parents, 44% with biological and 19% with a step parent, and the other 37% being a mix of single parent, foster, etc.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070613234342/http://www.ed.gov/admins/lead/safety/preventingattacksreport.pdf THE FINAL REPORT AND FINDINGS OF THE SAFE SCHOOL INITIATIVE: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE PREVENTION OF SCHOOL ATTACKS IN THE UNITED STATES], US Secret Service</ref> This is a bit less frequent than the average during this time period, where about 75% of kids lived in a two parent household.<ref>[https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/04/number-of-children-living-only-with-their-mothers-has-doubled-in-past-50-years.html Percentage and Number of Children Living With Two Parents Has Dropped Since 1968], US Census]</ref> This is significant, sure, but nowhere near enough to create a "profile" of your typical mass murderer nor in itself explain why the U.S. has so many mass shootings. More importantly, [[correlation does not equal causation]], especially considering that being raised by a single parent is also correlated with poverty, and poverty and inequality ''has'' been shown to increase the frequency of mass shootings.<ref>[https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-019-7490-x Income inequality and mass shootings in the United States]</ref> This doesn't stop [[conservative]]s from insisting that virtually all mass shooters come from broken homes, because [[nuclear family]].<ref>[https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/mass-shooters-fatherless-us/ Did 26 of the 27 Deadliest Mass Shooters Come from Fatherless Homes?], Snopes</ref>

===Video games===
Violent [[video game]]s have been blamed for mass violence. [[Donald Trump]] and others have made this claim,<ref>[https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/talkingtech/2019/08/05/do-violent-video-games-really-drive-people-commit-mass-shootings/1924128001/ Video games, violence and mass shootings have a long, complicated history] - USA Today</ref> though in fairness, so did [[Hillary Clinton]] and [[Joe Lieberman]] when they were senators.<ref>[https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/hillary-clinton-promotes-law-to-ban-violent-video-games-1.550126 Hillary promotes law to ban violent video games]</ref>

Claims that violent video games lead to real-life violence have not been substantiated. In fact, while about 70% of high schoolers play violent video games, only 20% of mass shooters say they have played those games.<ref>[https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/09/no-evidence-that-violent-video-games-are-causing-mass-shootings.html No evidence that violent video games are causing mass shootings, despite politicians’ claims] - CNBC</ref> Playing violent video games is not associated with real-life aggression.<ref>[https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rsos.171474 Violent video game engagement is not associated with adolescents' aggressive behaviour: evidence from a registered report] - Royal Society</ref> Researchers have not found a link between the popularity of video games and the amount of gun homicides in a country.<ref>[https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/05/politics/violent-video-game-shooting-fact-check/index.html Fact check: Are violent video games connected to mass shootings?] - CNN</ref>

Researchers have found that video games are blamed more often when the shooter is White as opposed to when the shooter is Black.<ref>[https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/09/190916092107.htm Violent video games blamed more often for school shootings by white perpetrators] - Science Daily</ref>  Note that nobody seems to take this line of thinking to the obvious conclusion; nobody seems to insist that games such as [[Minecraft]] have resulted in random homes being built all over the place or Wii Sports resulting in a surge of all-star athletes.

===Mental illness===
{{cquote|These issues become obscured when mass shootings come to stand in for all gun crime, and when “mentally ill” ceases to be a medical designation and becomes a sign of violent threat.|||Jonathan M. Metzl MD, PhD, and Kenneth T. MacLeish PhD<ref>[https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/full/10.2105/AJPH.2014.302242 Mental Illness, Mass Shootings, and the Politics of American Firearms] - American Journal of Public Health</ref>}}
Mass shootings have been blamed on mental illnesses such as schizophrenia.<ref>[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4318286/ Mental Illness, Mass Shootings, and the Politics of American Firearms]</ref> In fact, of the 120,000 gun-related killings in the US between 2001 and 2010, fewer than 5% of the known perpetrators had been diagnosed with a mental illness,<ref>[https://news.vanderbilt.edu/2014/12/11/mental-illness-wrong-scapegoat-shootings/ Mental illness is the wrong scapegoat, Vanderbuilt]</ref><ref>[https://www.aafp.org/news/blogs/freshperspectives/entry/20190918fp-massshootings.html Don't Blame Mental Illness for Mass Shootings] - American Academy of Family Physicians</ref> which is approximately the same as the proportion of the population living with a serious mental illness.<ref>[https://www.nami.org/nami/media/nami-media/infographics/generalmhfacts.pdf Facts about mental illness]</ref> Media coverage  as well as general discourse focuses disproportionately on shootings perpetrated by people with mental illnesses as compared to shootings committed by people with no diagnoses;<ref>[https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/full/10.1377/hlthaff.2016.0011 Trends In News Media Coverage Of Mental Illness In The United States: 1995–2014] - Health Affairs</ref> even if there are no diagnoses, people then try to speculate about mental health issues.

Trying to deflect blame for its own involvement, the [[National Rifle Association]] has called for a registry of people with mental illnesses.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2012/12/21/the-nra-wants-an-active-mental-illness-database-thirty-eight-states-have-that-now/?arc404=true The NRA wants an 'active' mental illness database. Thirty-eight states have that now.] - Washington Post</ref>

Most people with mental illnesses are ordinary, nonviolent people who want to continue going about their lives. Even people with serious illnesses are highly unlikely to be violent.<ref>[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24861430 Mental illness and reduction of gun violence and suicide: bringing epidemiologic research to policy.]</ref> If there's any association with mental illness and gun violence, it's restricted to the rates of suicide.<ref>[https://www.aft.org/childrens-health/mental-health/gun-violence-and-mental-health Gun violence and mental health] - American Federation of Teachers</ref>

===Autism===
{{cquote|Blaming autism lets people wave away the idea that evil is not inborn but grown, that someone they know could have hate growing within, that there is capacity for harm in all of us and we don't have an easy answer for it.|||Luna Rose<ref>[https://misslunarose.home.blog/2020/01/04/flying-at-night/ "Flying at Night": the Good, the Bad, the Shocking] - Autistic Dreams</ref>}}

Media speculations have pointed to [[autism]] as a potential cause for mass shootings,<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/12/opinion/the-myth-of-the-autistic-shooter.html The Myth of the Autistic Shooter] - New York Times</ref> stigmatizing an already isolated and under-supported group of people.

However, the reality is that autistic people are less violent than average. Research has shown that autistic children tend to be less aggressive than non-autistic children, with any outbursts usually being the result of provocation.<ref>[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4331245/ Aggression in children with autism spectrum disorders and a clinic-referred comparison group]</ref> Autistic adults are less likely to commit crime.<ref>[https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/12/autism-is-not-psychosis/266434/ Autism Is Not Psychosis] - The Atlantic</ref> Research shows that being on the autism spectrum reduces the risk of violent behavior.<ref>[https://theconversation.com/toronto-attack-autism-does-not-increase-risk-of-violence-95636 Toronto attack: Autism does not increase risk of violence] - The Conversation</ref> Autistic people, however, are more likely to be victims.<ref>[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5980973/ Victimization and Perpetration Experiences of Adults With Autism] - Frontiers in Psychiatry</ref>

Nevertheless, autistics pay the price. For example, 17-year-old autistic Jack Robison was accused of being a terrorist for his scientific curiosity in creating explosives with household chemicals, setting them off in the woods away from other people, and filming the results; it took a year-long battle for all charges to be dropped.<ref>[https://www.cnn.com/2013/04/06/opinion/robison-autism-violence/index.html Autism link to violence is a myth] - CNN</ref> Another autistic teen, a quiet and nonviolent boy who has been bullied to the point of [[PTSD]], was targeted by rumors at school that he was the reason for the school's lockdown.<ref>[https://www.thehour.com/news/article/Autistic-teen-says-peers-at-Norwalk-High-unfairly-12706169.php Autistic teen says peers at Norwalk High unfairly label him a threat] - The Hour</ref> Research shows that exposure to claims about autism causing violence leads to negative attitudes towards autistic people.<ref>[https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1362361316632097 The influence of media suggestions about links between criminality and autism spectrum disorder]</ref>

==See also==
*[[School shooting]]
*[[Aurora shootings]]
*[[2016 Orlando nightclub shooting]]
*[[Christchurch terrorist attacks]]
*[[Hate crime]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{Reflist|2|80%}}

[[Category:Civilian gun massacres| ]]
[[Category:Crime]]
[[Category:Moral panics]]

Categories: Civilian gun massacres, Crime, Moral panics