Behind Mass Shootings
For this research proposal, I will be talking about these questions: What causes mass shootings? What is behind the mass shooter? and What motivates mass shootings? Throughout this research, I hope to get these questions answered but not just in my view but from other perspectives too. I believe that there is always more than one side to a story. This past year I have been really interested in this. It all started out at the Miss America’s Miss Indiana Pageant. During the interview, the majority of the questions were about this topic and I did not seem to know much about it so after that I decided to put more thought into and learn more about it and this research proposal is the perfect way to do that. I also realized that this topic has been becoming more and more talked about and I really need to get learning about it because there is always something on the news about it and it is always talked about in public events like the Miss America Pageants.
I believe that mass shootings are becoming something that everyone is talking about and It shouldn’t be. We need to find a way to minimize these shootings but it all has to start from the beginning and finding out what is behind these mass shooters. I have eight sources that I read about that are related to my questions. One of my questions is what causes mass shootings and the source from Elizabeth Drew and Alfred University are good sources to look too. The article from Elizabeth Drew from this past year is a great source because it is very recent and it would have some of the best explanations on what causes mass shootings from the most recent research. It says the shootings are becoming more frequent and more common and I think anyone can agree to that because you are constantly hearing about them and there are so many people getting killed or hurt because of them. Drew talks about how gun control can not be forgotten when talking about this subject. She says that since after the Sandy Hook shooting the US Senate has voted down two measures of gun control laws. I think this is a must for my topic because gun control relates to shootings. I was asked in my interview that if we get rid of all guns then do you think there would be no more shootings. I simply answered no to this because if someone really wanted to hurt someone then they would find a way like a bomb. I am a person who does not believe that getting rid of guns with help this. As a person who likes to hunt with their dad, I know many others are against this because hunting is what they love to do and they do not want that taken away from them. Drew also brings up the Second Amendment which is the right to bear arms and with this, she describes how the Second Amendment relates to this and what the government and the president have to say about these shootings. Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
In the article from Alfred University, it talks about the top reasons why shootings occur. This a great source because it directly explains the reasons. Such as the top reason is they want to get back at someone that has hurt them and the least common reason being they are bored. It also says that more than ten percent of students or teenagers may be leaning towards violence and 2.5 teenagers are considered dangerous. 61 percent of students say they know people who bring guns to school because they want too. Students with lower grades tend to be more involved in shootings than others. Media has also said to have a big impact on shootings. Students who spend more time on media say they have higher dangerous thoughts. Now I have always thought media such as video games have one of the top reasons that causes someone to commit this crime. This article explains how media can influence people and what other people say about it. This leads me to another question which is what motivates mass shootings.
In the article from EveryTown for Gun Safety, The author has an annual report of mass shootings in the United States. This report is talking about the shootings from 2009 to 2017. This report has very good statistics that had happened over those years and kind of what was behind these shooters as to what percent had violence with their families before the shooting actually occurred. This report also has a great chart that shows the overview from the past nine years. This is something that prove my point of how mass shootings are increasing because it will show how we have progressed in our data of shootings and show that more and more shootings are happening all around us and they can be getting closer to us as well. According to this report, 2017 was one of the deadliest and most dangerous years for mass shootings in the United States and in 2011 and 2013 had the most shootings within the year.
The article from Frank J. Robertz tells a couple of stories about different shootings. His collogues and himself have been trying to get under these mass shootings so they can predict them. He found that they are inspired by other shooters and want recognition. This is a little different from the article from Alfred University because they both have different reasoning but both have goo explanations why behind them. He also explains how the fantasies they have over shootings build up over there years before they are ever acted on and over the years they get better and more detailed ideas, especially from other shooters. They keep this a secret for in the beginning but then it becomes to slip out and that is one way on how people do find the shooter. Robertz also talks about the different ways you can look for ways that a dangerous student might do something. He has come up with different strategies to look for before a shooting might occur. I think this a great article to look off of because it tells me the different points of view that where a shooter might come from and how to look out for one. He also explains how media is an impact too. This makes me believe that media is one of the top reasons behind these shootings because all the articles I have read have this in common. He then gives different reasons for why a shooter might do something like this which is the last question that I have. What is behind a mass shooter?
The article from Robertz has different reasoning on what’s behind a mass shooter. He talks about how their thoughts build up over the years and how they plan to do it. He also talks about how they evolve into becoming very dangerous and their thoughts and how their thoughts work with the situation. This is something that I have been looking for from these questions and I think it is good to put in my paper. The other article from Hilary Brueck explains the men behind the US’s most deadly shootings. She starts off by explaining Trump’s view and the different US shootings. An interesting reason that she spoke of was that a lot of the mass shooters already had a history with violence against women. She goes into explaining that and gives examples like the shooter from Sandy Hook and other shooters in the US.
In the article published by The New York Times, Benedict Carey talks about what experts know about the people who commit mass shootings. He talks about the different patterns that scientists have been studying for decades and how they have developed over time and how they have been changing. Benedict says that scientists have seen where mass shootings can inspire more mass shootings and cause a pattern. Police have found evidence that shooters study other shootings and use that to help them pull off their shooting like the man from Sandy Hook studied the shooter from Columbine. There has always been the question of if video games have been an impact on these crimes. In a recently published study, it was proven that video games have increased aggressive behavior. Even though the distinction between a murder on a screen and a murder in real life is a long shot, most males play these video games and only a little bit commit mass shootings. Also, these video games are way more popular in Asia but mass shooting is way rarer than they are here. I think this is a big topic when it comes to this subject because anyone that I talk to about this seems to bring up video games in the conversation. But that is not the only blame for shootings, he also talks about how mental illness can be linked to these mass shootings because there is normally something going on inside the shooter’s brain. There is normally something involved with alcohol or drugs as well as the mental illness they may have. He also talks about other red flags we can look out for before a mass shooting occurs such as showing respect to past shooters or even just talking about a shooting they have thought about doing and making threats against someone or someplace.
Like I said, there is more than one side to a story and in this article from PBS is about why mental illness cannot predict mass shootings. This article is different than my other articles because it says how mental illness cannot predict future mass shootings whereas some of my other articles say they can. From 2017 to 2018, the United States has been through over 50 mass shootings. Around 96 percent of violent crimes, like shootings, would still occur even if every suspect that was in the crime with a mental health condition was stopped before actually committing the crime. This article says that it is just a myth about illness linking to shootings but there are some mental and social traits that do link with gun violence and the author, Nsikan, explains what they are such as only a quarter of shooters are actually diagnosed with a mental illness even if they show symptoms of some kind of mental illness. He also talks about how the most common thread is guns and how that goes into mass shootings because the access to guns is a big problem because it is so easy to get your hands on one.
There is a lot of this that goes on during and after a mass shooting and they should be considered as well. This article is about some of the critical issues that go on after mass shootings. I wanted an article as recent as possible so that’s one reason I chose this one because it was published in May 2019. This journal was written by two men named Philip Schaenman and Hollis Stambaugh. The journal is called Lessons Learned From Mass Shootings. In this journal, they both talk about the critical issues that real mass shootings have left behind and the issues they bring along with the issues that go on during a mass shooting. Because of all of these mass shootings, there has been a lot of issues that have come with them. From this journal, there are ten different issues that stem from these mass shootings. These different issues just show us that we need to do whatever we can to minimize mass shootings because these issues are so serious. The author explains these different issues and how they happen from these mass shootings and there are many ways a shooting can cause issues and how we can fix them.
We have had many problems with our world today with mass shootings and we need to minimize them the best we can. With all of this information and research, I can now make my own actions in doing my best to help minimize these crimes. This essay has helped me realize what really happens when these crimes take place and now even more of me wants to do something about, but not just me, I need to bring this into ou school and our community to show them what they can do as well just by seeing what is behind a mass shooter.
Works Cited:
Akpan, Nsikan. “Why Mental Illness Can’t Predict Mass Shootings.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 7 Aug. 2019, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/why-mental-illness-cant-predict-mass-shootings.
Alfred University. (2019). Why Do Shootings Occur? Retrieved from https://www.alfred.edu/about/news/studies/lethal-school-violence/why-do-shootings.cfm
Brueck, Hilary. “The Men behind the US’s Deadliest Mass Shootings Have Domestic Violence – Not Mental Illness – in Common.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 5 Aug. 2019, https://www.businessinsider.com/deadliest-mass-shootings-almost-all-have-domestic-violence-connection-2017-11.
Carey, Benedict. “What Experts Know About People Who Commit Mass Shootings.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 5 Aug. 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/05/health/mass-shootings-mental-health.html.
Drew, Elizabeth, et al. “What’s Behind America’s Mass Shootings? by Elizabeth Drew.” Project Syndicate, 13 Aug. 2019, https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/america-gun-control-mass-shootings-by-elizabeth-drew-2019-08.
“Mass Shootings in America, 2009 to 2017.” EverytownResearch.org, https://everytownresearch.org/reports/mass-shootings-analysis/.
Robertz, Frank J. “Deadly Dreams: What Motivates School Shootings?” Scientific American, 1 Aug. 2007, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/deadly-dreams/.
“Why Do Shootings Occur?: Alfred University.” Www.alfred.edu, https://www.alfred.edu/about/news/studies/lethal-school-violence/why-do-shootings.cfm.