What We've Learned From Mass Shootings

[PoliTalker]

This article is a good read and food for thought:

"By Jillian Peterson and James Densley
Aug. 4, 2019
9:41 AM

In the last week, more than 30 people have died in three separate mass shootings in Gilroy, El Paso and Dayton, Ohio. We believe that analyzing and understanding data about who commits such massacres can help prevent more lives being lost.

For two years, we’ve been studying the life histories of mass shooters in the United States for a project funded by the National Institute of Justice, the research arm of the U.S. Department of Justice. We’ve built a database dating back to 1966 of every mass shooter who shot and killed four or more people in a public place, and every shooting incident at schools, workplaces, and places of worship since 1999. We’ve interviewed incarcerated perpetrators and their families, shooting survivors and first responders. We’ve read media and social media, manifestos, suicide notes, trial transcripts and medical records.

Our goal has been to find new, data-driven pathways for preventing such shootings. Although we haven’t found that mass shooters are all alike, our data do reveal four commonalities among the perpetrators of nearly all the mass shootings we studied.

First, the vast majority of mass shooters in our study experienced early childhood trauma and exposure to violence at a young age. The nature of their exposure included parental suicide, physical or sexual abuse, neglect, domestic violence, and/or severe bullying. The trauma was often a precursor to mental health concerns, including depression, anxiety, thought disorders or suicidality.

Second, practically every mass shooter we studied had reached an identifiable crisis point in the weeks or months leading up to the shooting. They often had become angry and despondent because of a specific grievance. For workplace shooters, a change in job status was frequently the trigger. For shooters in other contexts, relationship rejection or loss often played a role. Such crises were, in many cases, communicated to others through a marked change in behavior, an expression of suicidal thoughts or plans, or specific threats of violence.

Third, most of the shooters had studied the actions of other shooters and sought validation for their motives. People in crisis have always existed. But in the age of 24-hour rolling news and social media, there are scripts to follow that promise notoriety in death. Societal fear and fascination with mass shootings partly drives the motivation to commit them. Hence, as we have seen in the last week, mass shootings tend to come in clusters. They are socially contagious. Perpetrators study other perpetrators and model their acts after previous shootings. Many are radicalized online in their search for validation from others that their will to murder is justified.

Fourth, the shooters all had the means to carry out their plans. Once someone decides life is no longer worth living and that murdering others would be a proper revenge, only means and opportunity stand in the way of another mass shooting. Is an appropriate shooting site accessible? Can the would-be shooter obtain firearms? In 80% of school shootings, perpetrators got their weapons from family members, according to our data. Workplace shooters tended to use handguns they legally owned. Other public shooters were more likely to acquire them illegally."

(that's about a 1/4 of the article. The rest can be found at: )

Op-Ed: We have studied every mass shooting since 1966. Here’s what we’ve learned about the shooters

[volsrock]

This article is a good read and food for thought:

"By Jillian Peterson and James Densley
Aug. 4, 2019
9:41 AM

In the last week, more than 30 people have died in three separate mass shootings in Gilroy, El Paso and Dayton, Ohio. We believe that analyzing and understanding data about who commits such massacres can help prevent more lives being lost.

For two years, we’ve been studying the life histories of mass shooters in the United States for a project funded by the National Institute of Justice, the research arm of the U.S. Department of Justice. We’ve built a database dating back to 1966 of every mass shooter who shot and killed four or more people in a public place, and every shooting incident at schools, workplaces, and places of worship since 1999. We’ve interviewed incarcerated perpetrators and their families, shooting survivors and first responders. We’ve read media and social media, manifestos, suicide notes, trial transcripts and medical records.

Our goal has been to find new, data-driven pathways for preventing such shootings. Although we haven’t found that mass shooters are all alike, our data do reveal four commonalities among the perpetrators of nearly all the mass shootings we studied.

First, the vast majority of mass shooters in our study experienced early childhood trauma and exposure to violence at a young age. The nature of their exposure included parental suicide, physical or sexual abuse, neglect, domestic violence, and/or severe bullying. The trauma was often a precursor to mental health concerns, including depression, anxiety, thought disorders or suicidality.

Second, practically every mass shooter we studied had reached an identifiable crisis point in the weeks or months leading up to the shooting. They often had become angry and despondent because of a specific grievance. For workplace shooters, a change in job status was frequently the trigger. For shooters in other contexts, relationship rejection or loss often played a role. Such crises were, in many cases, communicated to others through a marked change in behavior, an expression of suicidal thoughts or plans, or specific threats of violence.

Third, most of the shooters had studied the actions of other shooters and sought validation for their motives. People in crisis have always existed. But in the age of 24-hour rolling news and social media, there are scripts to follow that promise notoriety in death. Societal fear and fascination with mass shootings partly drives the motivation to commit them. Hence, as we have seen in the last week, mass shootings tend to come in clusters. They are socially contagious. Perpetrators study other perpetrators and model their acts after previous shootings. Many are radicalized online in their search for validation from others that their will to murder is justified.

Fourth, the shooters all had the means to carry out their plans. Once someone decides life is no longer worth living and that murdering others would be a proper revenge, only means and opportunity stand in the way of another mass shooting. Is an appropriate shooting site accessible? Can the would-be shooter obtain firearms? In 80% of school shootings, perpetrators got their weapons from family members, according to our data. Workplace shooters tended to use handguns they legally owned. Other public shooters were more likely to acquire them illegally."

(that's about a 1/4 of the article. The rest can be found at

Op-Ed: We have studied every mass shooting since 1966. Here’s what we’ve learned about the shooters

Fourth, the shooters all had the means to carry out their plans. Once someone decides life is no longer worth living and that murdering others would be a proper revenge, only means and opportunity stand in the way of another mass shooting. Is an appropriate shooting site accessible?

Bingo...Gun Free Zone very accessible

Also

Once someone decides life is no longer worth living and that murdering others would be a proper revenge...

Means u can never stop someone like that...they will use a car and ram a crowd etc...

[Cypress]

These French gun laws are eminently reasonable for balancing both public safety, and the right to own weapons for hunting, sporting, personal use >>

Gun Regulation in France

French people must undergo psychological test before getting gun licence

To own a gun, you first need to acquire a hunting or sporting licence, and this has to be regularly renewed and requires a psychological evaluation.

Applicants with any criminal record are automatically refused.

There is also a blacklist of around 18,000 people who are banned from owning a gun.


French gun ownership among highest in the world France is in 12th place in the world in the rankings of gun ownership, according to the Small Arms Survey.

Hunters own most of the legal weapons in France.
Millions of these weapons are owned by hunters, who number around one million and make France the biggest hunting country in Europe.

https://www.thelocal.fr/20171004/fiv...guns-in-france

^^^^^^
Hardly draconian. Restrictive yes. Draconian no. I would even say these are even perfectly reasonable common sense restrictions.

I would add to the French regulatory framework that no large capacity ammunition clips need to be sold on the civilian market. There is no God-given right to large capacity ammo clips, bump stocks, or hand grenades. Large capacity ammo clips are a military design that are engineered and intended for one purpose only: killing as many people as rapidly and efficiently as possible using a sustained rate of fire. There is not one single, solitary, credible reason - none, nada, zilch - you need a 40 round ammo clip to hunt deer, waterfowl, for personal defense, or to shoot at a target range.

[volsrock]

These French gun laws are eminently reasonable for balancing both public safety, and the right to own weapons for hunting, sporting, personal use >>


^^^^^^
Hardly draconian. Restrictive yes. Draconian no. I would even say these are even perfectly reasonable common sense restrictions.

I would add to the French regulatory framework that no large capacity ammunition clips need to be sold on the civilian market. There is no God-given right to large capacity ammo clips, bump stocks, or hand grenades. Large capacity ammo clips are a military design that are engineered and intended for one purpose only: killing as many people as rapidly and efficiently as possible using a sustained rate of fire. There is not one single, solitary, credible reason - none, nada, zilch - you need a 40 round ammo clip to hunt deer, waterfowl, for personal defense, or to shoot at a target range.

Ban all that . still will not stop mass shootings around 1940 or so some nutcase used one pistol with a 7 round clip and killed 15 or 20 people

[volsrock]

France ...lol..dont need no stinking gun

On the evening of 14 July 2016, a 19-tonne cargo truck was deliberately driven into crowds of people celebrating Bastille Day on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, France, resulting in the deaths of 86 people and the injury of 458 others.

[volsrock]

By the way if the guy in France had used a gun he would have never killed that many

[Ralph]

This article is a good read and food for thought:

"By Jillian Peterson and James Densley
Aug. 4, 2019
9:41 AM

In the last week, more than 30 people have died in three separate mass shootings in Gilroy, El Paso and Dayton, Ohio. We believe that analyzing and understanding data about who commits such massacres can help prevent more lives being lost.

For two years, we’ve been studying the life histories of mass shooters in the United States for a project funded by the National Institute of Justice, the research arm of the U.S. Department of Justice. We’ve built a database dating back to 1966 of every mass shooter who shot and killed four or more people in a public place, and every shooting incident at schools, workplaces, and places of worship since 1999. We’ve interviewed incarcerated perpetrators and their families, shooting survivors and first responders. We’ve read media and social media, manifestos, suicide notes, trial transcripts and medical records.

Our goal has been to find new, data-driven pathways for preventing such shootings. Although we haven’t found that mass shooters are all alike, our data do reveal four commonalities among the perpetrators of nearly all the mass shootings we studied.

First, the vast majority of mass shooters in our study experienced early childhood trauma and exposure to violence at a young age. The nature of their exposure included parental suicide, physical or sexual abuse, neglect, domestic violence, and/or severe bullying. The trauma was often a precursor to mental health concerns, including depression, anxiety, thought disorders or suicidality.

Second, practically every mass shooter we studied had reached an identifiable crisis point in the weeks or months leading up to the shooting. They often had become angry and despondent because of a specific grievance. For workplace shooters, a change in job status was frequently the trigger. For shooters in other contexts, relationship rejection or loss often played a role. Such crises were, in many cases, communicated to others through a marked change in behavior, an expression of suicidal thoughts or plans, or specific threats of violence.

Third, most of the shooters had studied the actions of other shooters and sought validation for their motives. People in crisis have always existed. But in the age of 24-hour rolling news and social media, there are scripts to follow that promise notoriety in death. Societal fear and fascination with mass shootings partly drives the motivation to commit them. Hence, as we have seen in the last week, mass shootings tend to come in clusters. They are socially contagious. Perpetrators study other perpetrators and model their acts after previous shootings. Many are radicalized online in their search for validation from others that their will to murder is justified.

Fourth, the shooters all had the means to carry out their plans. Once someone decides life is no longer worth living and that murdering others would be a proper revenge, only means and opportunity stand in the way of another mass shooting. Is an appropriate shooting site accessible? Can the would-be shooter obtain firearms? In 80% of school shootings, perpetrators got their weapons from family members, according to our data. Workplace shooters tended to use handguns they legally owned. Other public shooters were more likely to acquire them illegally."

(that's about a 1/4 of the article. The rest can be found at

Op-Ed: We have studied every mass shooting since 1966. Here’s what we’ve learned about the shooters

That no amount of regulating the LAW Abiding CITZEN......will ever stop the criminal from killing? If you want to stop the mass killing bring back the FATHER FIGURE into the American Family....a strong willed leader that will put a boot up the ass of any rug rat that thinks that killing is a video game. Right now the leftist village is doing a piss poor job of parenting and UNCLE SAM does not make much of a Father Figure with the social issues. You can never stop arterial bleeding by applying a band aid.

Tell the truth...this latest drum beat to remove a citizens right of self protection is simply a political wish. Clearly you could care less about lives....Black, White, or any other color that have been killed via gun violence...or...you would bring up the 300K plus young black men that have been murdered by GUNS in some of the most regulated liberal cities on the earth over the past few decades. They are being stacked up like cord wood....but they never seem to make the nightly news. WHY?

[volsrock]

That no amount of regulating the LAW Abiding CITZEN......will ever stop the criminal from killing? If you want to stop the mass killing bring back the FATHER FIGURE into the American Family....a strong willed leader that will put a boot up the ass of any rug rat that thinks that killing is a video game. Right now the leftist village is doing a piss poor job of parenting and UNCLE SAM does not make much of a Father Figure with the social issues. You can never stop arterial bleeding by applying a band aid.

Tell the truth...this latest drum beat to remove a citizens right of self protection is simply a political wish. Clearly you could care less about lives....Black, White, or any other color that have been killed via gun violence...or...you would bring up the 300K plus young black men that have been murdered by GUNS in some of the most regulated liberal cities on the earth over the past few decades. They are being stacked up like cord wood....but they never seem to make the nightly news. WHY?

They are being stacked up like cord wood....but they never seem to make the nightly news. WHY?

LOL

Does not fit the narrative! and they dont really care about gun deaths...unless they can pin it on a white guy

[Gonzomin]

Fourth, the shooters all had the means to carry out their plans. Once someone decides life is no longer worth living and that murdering others would be a proper revenge, only means and opportunity stand in the way of another mass shooting. Is an appropriate shooting site accessible?

Bingo...Gun Free Zone very accessible

Also

Once someone decides life is no longer worth living and that murdering others would be a proper revenge...

Means u can never stop someone like that...they will use a car and ram a crowd etc...

Shooters do not care about gun-free zones. There are cops in nearly every incident. The Dayton killer was shot by an army of cops in under a minute. Most mass shooters think their death is how it will end.

[Celticguy]

The research comes down to one thing: the killer was a danger to himself or others.
What they dont say is nesrly all were kniwn to be that wsy or suspected.
Why are mb ental health professionals feet not being held to the fire for these failures ?

[ThatOwlWoman]

The research comes down to one thing: the killer was a danger to himself or others.
What they dont say is nesrly all were kniwn to be that wsy or suspected.
Why are mb ental health professionals feet not being held to the fire for these failures ?

Mental health professionals can't do much if the homicidal/suicidal person is not under their care. Let's hold the feet of family members, work colleagues, classmates/teachers/other personnel to the fire as well. But even if you see that your brother, for instance, has had marked mental changes and appears to be spiraling, and you report it to your parents/the school/somebody -- it is incredibly hard to get a person committed in order to get the mental health help they desperately need. Few parents, for instance, will report an angry, threatening kid to the police because they don't want him locked up with even worse ppl, even if it's for his own good.

We need to limit civilian access to high-capacity clips, and institute a reporting system and treatment for these folks and is effective.

Very good article, thanks for posting it, Poli.

[volsrock]

We need to limit civilian access to high-capacity clips,

WONT DO A BIT OF GOOD!!!!..still will not stop mass shootings around 1940 or so some nutcase used one pistol with a 7 round clip and killed 15 or 20 people

its a people problem

[reagansghost]

WONT TO A BIT OF GOOD!!!!..still will not stop mass shootings around 1940 or so some nutcase used one pistol with a 7 round clip and killed 15 or 20 people

its a people problem

1940???......a one-off 79 yrs ago?

it's a people problem alright, haters with readily available military grade weapons

[volsrock]

1940???......a one-off 79 yrs ago?

it's a people problem alright, haters with readily available military grade weapons

OR A TRUCK! that can kill 86 and injure 456

[reagansghost]

OR A TRUCK! that can kill 86 and injure 456

so because motor vehicles kill people mass shootings mean nothing

got it troll