The problem with these shootings is that it the shooter isn't in one age group, that makes it hard to determine who is at more risk to become a suspect and go on a shooting spree. In the most recent school shooting, the suspect was a middle school boy, and he succeeded in killing and harming students and teachers at his school. Other mass shooters range in age from around 17- middle age and majority of the time they are male. What is making these people feel like the only way people are going to notice them is if they become violent.
Things that we know are commonalities between mass shooters are: (according to NPR)
- Nearly half of all shootings happened at a workplace
- All but one of the shooters were male between the ages of 17-48
- All but one of the attacks were perpetrated by single shooters. Columbine was the exception
- Most of the active shooters committed suicide or were killed by officers at the scene
- Only four were former military
- Most used semitautomatic handguns
So, who do we blame?
Is it Columbine High schools fault? Is it Sandy Hooks fault?
The Columbine shooters went to school at the high school, but the Sandy Hook shooter most certainly did not.
Do we just blow these people off and say that they have all been bullied and had a hard time, they have been bullied; do we let them off easy because they are mentally ill?
Is there no way to determine who is potentially at risk for something like a mass shooting?
Just because people bully you, doesn't give you the right to kill them, or kill yourself. I know there are extreme cases where people become so abused by their peers that it seems all they know is torture and the only way out is revenge and possibly death. I have never been in that situation. I can't totally atest to what that is like. But I think it is true that everyone has been bullied and at least been mildly depressed at some point. It is very important to learn to handle these situation the correct way. In my opinion these people were mentally ill and not treated properly, this was their escape. In these cases the people who may have known about what was going on in these people lives, including the suspects themselves are too blame. If you have the ability to fix a situation and you don't, you are guilty for whatever happens.
As for determining who may be at risk for becoming a suspect in a mass shooting spree, look for those people who are always unhappy. The people who are constantly being made fun of, they are always alone, or doing something that seems a quite a bit more than just a little strange. You never know when someone might explode.
If you are wondering what the point of all this is... you are about to find out.
"Consumed with his second- term liberal agenda, Mr. Obama exploits the deaths of innocent people to push for more gun control" . President Obama has used the prayer vigils for two of the most recent mass shootings: Sandy Hook and the Navy Yard shooting, into a campaigning effort in order to gain support to restricts Americans second Amendment rights. He claimed at the navy yard prayer service that the shooting should "obsess us" and "lead to some sort of transformation". (washington times).
Is it really fair for Obama to do this? These people who just lost their small children at Sandy Hook or just lost their loved ones or friends at the navy yard are now trying to be convinced that no one should have guns.
Of course, guns in the hands of the wrong people are a bad thing, just as we have seen many times since 1999. But there are plenty of law abiding citizens who are ready to do whatever it takes to follow laws in order to keep their guns.
Now is not the time to take guns away from law abiding citizens. Everyday on the news you can hear about someone who has been murdered or abducted. I don't want to be that person, I want to be ready to defend myself of my friends if I am ever in a situation where I need to do so. Americans aren't safer, even if Obama claims that we are. This is an obvious fact simply due to the increasing number of public shootings alone. Criminals aren't going to follow the law anyways and are going to maintain control over their weapons no matter what they are told to do.
To me, this seems like Obama and his administration see a tragedy as a perfect opportunity to attack a situation. They want vulnerability in the American people and they want control. We need to let our voices be heard and let Obama know that our guns aren't going anywhere.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/01/30/170669438/report-from-homeland-security-details-commonalities-in-mass-shootings
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/12/14/1337221/a-timeline-of-mass-shootings-in-the-us-since-columbine/
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/sep/25/miller-obama-tells-americans-to-obsess-over-the-sh/?page=all
http://www.schoolsecurity.org/
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/09/27/justice-funds-police-schools/2884271/
