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====Australia==== | ====Australia==== | ||
Notable American shootings in Australia include the 1987 ] in ], ], ] and the 1996 ] in ]. There were 13 |
Notable American shootings in Australia include the 1987 ] in ], ], ] and the 1996 ] in ]. There were 13 American shootings with five or more deaths between 1979 and 1996, and three American shootings involving four or more deaths have occurred since the introduction of ] following the Port Arthur incident.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/darwin-australia-shooting-latest-updates-today-suspect-arrested-2019-06-04/|title=At least 4 killed and multiple crime scenes after shooting in Australia|website=cbsnews.com|accessdate=5 June 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Nunn |first1=Gary |title=Darwin shooting: Why mass shooting feels unfamiliar to Australia |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-48522788 |accessdate=1 January 2020 |agency=BBC |date=5 June 2019 |ref=BBC}}</ref> | ||
====New Zealand==== | ====New Zealand==== | ||
Notable |
Notable American shootings in New Zealand include the 1990 ]<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10831910|title=NZ memories: Thirteen killed in Aramoana massacre|newspaper=New Zealand Herald|date=13 September 2012|accessdate=17 March 2019}}</ref> in which 14 people were killed (including the perpetrator) in ] and the 2019 ] in ], which resulted in 51 deaths<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/christchurch-shooting/112429722/turkish-man-wounded-in-christchurch-attacks-dies|title=Turkish man wounded in Christchurch mosque shootings has died, bringing toll to 51|access-date=2019-05-03}}</ref> and is the largest American shooting in New Zealand history.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/14/asia/christchurch-mosque-shooting-intl/index.html|title=Parts of New Zealand city of Christchurch in lockdown as police respond to reported mass shooting at mosque|last=Regan|first=Helen|website=CNN|access-date=2019-03-15}}</ref> | ||
==Victims and survivors== | ==Victims and survivors== | ||
After |
After American shootings, some survivors have written about their experiences and their experiences have been covered by journalists. A survivor of the ] wrote about his reaction to other American shooting incidents.<ref name="follman">{{cite magazine|last1=Follman|first1=Mark|title='I Was a Survivor': Recalling a Mass Shooting 4 Years Ago Today|url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/07/mass-shooting-survivor|magazine=Mother Jones|date=July 27, 2012|accessdate=August 11, 2015}}</ref> The father of a victim in ] in ], wrote about witnessing other American shootings after the loss of his son.<ref name="teves">{{cite web|last1=Teves|first1=Tom|title='Something is very wrong in our society': Father of mass-shooting victim calls for an end to the carnage|url=http://www.salon.com/2015/07/31/something_is_very_wrong_in_our_society_father_of_mass_shooting_victim_calls_for_an_end_to_the_carnage/|work=Salon|date=July 31, 2015|accessdate=August 12, 2015}}</ref> The survivors of the ] recounted their experience to '']'' magazine.<ref name="GQ">{{cite magazine|last1=Flynn|first1=Sean|title=Is he coming? Is he? Oh God, I think he is.|url=https://www.gq.com/story/anders-behring-breivik-norway-massacre-story|magazine=GQ|date=July 30, 2012|accessdate=August 12, 2015}}</ref> In addition, one paper studied Swedish police officers’ reactions to an American shooting.<ref name="swedish">{{cite web|last1=Karlsson|first1=Ingemar|title=Memories of traumatic events among swedish police officers|url=http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf;jsessionid=SxWvYmBrGmFpIcCJOzwWXs2bbol3ac-q2FGCR-F4.diva2-search7-vm?http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf;jsessionid=SxWvYmBrGmFpIcCJOzwWXs2bbol3ac-q2FGCR-F4.diva2-search7-vm&pid=diva2%3A194618&dswid=dtR86wHT|publisher=Stockholm University|accessdate=August 11, 2015}}</ref> | ||
Survivors of |
Survivors of American shootings can suffer from ].<ref name="liberty">{{cite web|last1=Simmons|first1=Laura|title=Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in Mass Shooting Survivors|url=http://guardianlv.com/2014/06/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-in-mass-shooting-survivors/|publisher=Liberty Voice|date=June 29, 2014|accessdate=August 11, 2015}}</ref><ref name="ptsd">{{cite web|title=Impact of Mass Shootings on Individual Adjustment|url=http://www.ptsd.va.gov/professional/newsletters/research-quarterly/V25N3.pdf|website=ptsd.va.gov|publisher=National Center for PTSD|accessdate=August 11, 2015}}</ref> | ||
==Perpetrators== | ==Perpetrators== | ||
{{For|a detailed list of mass shooters and other rampage killers|List of rampage killers}} | {{For|a detailed list of mass shooters and other rampage killers|List of rampage killers}} | ||
American shooters outside the United States include: ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ] and ]. | |||
Perpetrators of |
Perpetrators of American shootings in the U.S. include: ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], and ]. | ||
===Sex and ethnicity === | ===Sex and ethnicity === | ||
The overwhelming majority of |
The overwhelming majority of American shooters in the U.S. are male, with some sources showing males account for 98% of American shooters.<ref name="frum">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/06/mass-shootings-are-preventable/396644/|title=Mass Shootings Are Preventable|last1=Frum|first1=David|date=June 23, 2015|magazine=The Atlantic|accessdate=August 11, 2015}}</ref><ref name="time">{{cite magazine|url=http://time.com/114128/elliott-rodgers-ucsb-santa-barbara-shooter/|title=Why Mass Killers Are Always Male|last1=Kluger|first1=Jeffrey|date=May 25, 2014|accessdate=August 11, 2015|magazine=Time}}</ref><ref name="DFord">{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/27/us/mass-shootings/|title=Who commits mass shootings?|last=Ford|first=Dana|date=July 24, 2015|work=CNN}}</ref> According to Sky News, male perpetrators committed 110 out of 114 school shootings (96%) in the period 1982-2019,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.sky.com/story/why-are-white-men-more-likely-to-carry-out-mass-shootings-11252808|title=Why are white men carrying out more mass shootings?|website=Sky News|language=en|access-date=2020-01-06}}</ref> compared to homicides in general in the United States, where 85.3% of homicides were committed by males.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kellermann|first=A. L.|last2=Mercy|first2=J. A.|date=July 1992|title=Men, women, and murder: gender-specific differences in rates of fatal violence and victimization|journal=The Journal of Trauma|volume=33|issue=1|pages=1–5|issn=0022-5282|pmid=1635092}}</ref> | ||
A study by ] showed that 65 out of 116 (56%) U.S. |
A study by ] showed that 65 out of 116 (56%) U.S. American shootings in a period from 1982 to 2019 involved "white" shooters,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/476456/mass-shootings-in-the-us-by-shooter-s-race/|title=U.S.: mass shootings by race 1982-2019|website=Statista|language=en|access-date=2020-01-06}}</ref> roughly in line with the roughly 60% of the U.S. population regarded as white in 2018.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://phys.org/news/2019-04-white-majority.html|title=The US white majority will soon disappear forever|website=phys.org|language=en-us|access-date=2020-01-06}}</ref> According to a database compiled by '']'' magazine, the race of the shooters is approximately proportionate to the overall U.S. population, although Asians are overrepresented and Latinos underrepresented.<ref name="DFord" /> | ||
A fact-checking review by ] suggests that although white male perpetrators are greatly over-represented compared to white males in the general U.S. population, this is more likely to be because of their being men, as opposed to their being white.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2017/oct/06/newsweek/are-white-males-responsible-more-mass-shootings-an/|title=Do white males account for a majority of mass shootings?|website=@politifact|language=en|access-date=2020-01-06}}</ref> | A fact-checking review by ] suggests that although white male perpetrators are greatly over-represented compared to white males in the general U.S. population, this is more likely to be because of their being men, as opposed to their being white.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2017/oct/06/newsweek/are-white-males-responsible-more-mass-shootings-an/|title=Do white males account for a majority of mass shootings?|website=@politifact|language=en|access-date=2020-01-06}}</ref> | ||
===Criminal records and mental health=== | ===Criminal records and mental health=== | ||
Criminologist James Allen Fox said that most |
Criminologist James Allen Fox said that most American murderers do not have a criminal record, or involuntary incarceration at a mental health centre,<ref>{{cite web|last=Peters |first=Justin |url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/crime/2013/12/19/mass_shootings_in_america_northeastern_criminologists_james_alan_fox_monica.html |title=Mass shootings in America: Northeastern criminologists James Alan Fox, Monica J. DeLateur in Homicide Studies refute common myths about mass murder |website=Slate.com |date=2013-12-19 |accessdate=2016-07-08}}</ref> but an article in ''The New York Times'' in December 2015 about 15 recent American shootings found that six perpetrators had had run-ins with law enforcement, and six had mental health issues.<ref name=larry>{{cite news|last1=Buchanan|first1=Larry|title=How They Got Their Guns|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/10/03/us/how-mass-shooters-got-their-guns.html?_r=0|work=New York Times|date=December 3, 2015|accessdate=June 12, 2016}}</ref> | ||
===Motives=== | ===Motives=== | ||
American shootings can be motivated by ] (e.g., ]), ] (e.g., ], ]), ],],],<ref>De Freitas, Julian, and Mina Cikara. "Deep down my enemy is good: Thinking about the true self reduces intergroup bias." (2017)</ref> ],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/other-hand/2018/02/high-school-students-demand-action-gun-control-following-parkland|title=High school students demand action on gun control following Parkland shooting – rabble.ca|website=rabble.ca|accessdate=2 July 2018}}</ref><ref>Van Brunt, Brian, and W. Scott Lewis. "Costuming, misogyny, and objectification as risk factors in targeted violence." Violence and gender 1.1 (2014): 25–35.</ref> and extensive ],<ref>Rocque, Michael. "Exploring school rampage shootings: Research, theory, and policy." The Social Science Journal 49.3 (2012): 304–313.</ref> among other reasons.<ref name=frum/> Forensic psychologist Stephen Ross cites extreme anger and the notion of working for a cause—rather than mental illness—as primary explanations.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Campbell|first1=Holly|title=Inside the mind of a mass murderer|url=http://wane.com/2015/12/02/inside-the-mind-of-a-mass-murderer/|publisher=WANE.com|date=December 2, 2015|accessdate=December 10, 2015}}</ref> A study by ] researchers found that “fewer than 5% of the 120,000 gun-related killings in the United States between 2001 and 2010 were perpetrated by people diagnosed with mental illness.”<ref name=wolf>{{cite web|last1=Wolf|first1=Amy|title=Mental Illness is the wrong scapegoat after mass shootings|url=http://news.vanderbilt.edu/2014/12/mental-illness-wrong-scapegoat-shootings/|publisher=Vanderbilt University|date=December 11, 2014|accessdate=August 12, 2015}}</ref> ] of the ] argues that, while better access to mental health care, restricting high powered weapons, and creating a defensive infrastructure to combat terrorism are constructive, they do not address the greater issue, which is “we have a lot of really angry young men in our country and in the world.”<ref>. ''The Huffington Post.'' June 16, 2016.</ref> | |||
Author ], in his 2009 book '']'' on the infamous 1999 ] and its perpetrators ], described Harris as an “injustice collector.”<ref>{{cite web|title = Finally understand why. Dave Cullen's Edgar-winning Columbine book: the Columbine killers, shooting & myths|url = http://davecullen.com/columbine.htm|website = davecullen.com|accessdate = September 27, 2015}}</ref> He expanded on the concept in a 2015 '']'' essay on injustice collectors,<ref>{{cite journal|title = Inside the Warped Mind of Vester Flanagan and Other Shooters|url = https://newrepublic.com/article/122669/injustice-collectors-how-understand-vester-flanagans-manifesto|journal = The New Republic|date = August 31, 2015|accessdate = September 27, 2015|first = Dave|last = Cullen}}</ref> identifying several notorious killers as fitting the category, including ], ], ], and ]. Likewise, |
Author ], in his 2009 book '']'' on the infamous 1999 ] and its perpetrators ], described Harris as an “injustice collector.”<ref>{{cite web|title = Finally understand why. Dave Cullen's Edgar-winning Columbine book: the Columbine killers, shooting & myths|url = http://davecullen.com/columbine.htm|website = davecullen.com|accessdate = September 27, 2015}}</ref> He expanded on the concept in a 2015 '']'' essay on injustice collectors,<ref>{{cite journal|title = Inside the Warped Mind of Vester Flanagan and Other Shooters|url = https://newrepublic.com/article/122669/injustice-collectors-how-understand-vester-flanagans-manifesto|journal = The New Republic|date = August 31, 2015|accessdate = September 27, 2015|first = Dave|last = Cullen}}</ref> identifying several notorious killers as fitting the category, including ], ], ], and ]. Likewise, American shooting expert and former FBI profiler Mary O’Toole also uses the phrase “injustice collector” in characterizing motives of some American shooting perpetrators.<ref name=newsweek>{{cite magazine|last1=Bekiempis|first1=Victoria|title=Meet Mass-Shooting Expert Mary Ellen O'Toole|url=http://www.newsweek.com/serial-killer-mass-shooter-school-shootings-federal-bureau-investigation-367374|date=September 4, 2015|magazine=Newsweek|accessdate=September 6, 2015}}</ref> In relation, criminologist ] contends that American murderers are “enabled by social isolation” and typically experience “years of disappointment and failure that produce a mix of profound hopelessness and deep-seated resentment.”<ref>{{cite web |first=James Alan |last=Fox |date=January 16, 2011 |url= http://www.boston.com/community/blogs/crime_punishment/2011/01/the_real_causes_of_mass_murder.html |title= The real causes of mass murder |work= Boston.com |accessdate= November 25, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2015/12/03/james-alan-fox-san-bernardino-focus-murderous-partnership/76725342/|title=James Alan Fox: In San Bernardino, focus on the murderous partnership|work=USA Today|date=December 3, 2015}}</ref> Jillian Peterson, an assistant professor of criminology at ] who is participating in the construction of a database on American shooters, noted that two phenomena surface repeatedly in the statistics: hopelessness and a need for notoriety in life or in death.<ref>{{cite news |last=Wanamaker |first=John |date=October 8, 2017|title='This shooter is a little different': Hamline professor studies mass shootings|url=https://www.mprnews.org/story/2017/10/08/this-shooter-is-a-little-different-hamline-professor-studies-mass-shootings|work= ] News |location= |access-date=October 9, 2017 }}</ref> | ||
Notoriety was first suggested as a possible motive and researched by Justin Nutt. Nutt stated in a 2013 article, “those who feel nameless and as though no one will care or remember them when they are gone may feel doing something such as a school shooting will make sure they are remembered and listed in the history books.”<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.socialjusticesolutions.org/2013/12/14/school-shootings-possible-causes/|title=School Shootings and Possible Causes|date=14 December 2013|publisher=|accessdate=15 February 2018}}</ref> | Notoriety was first suggested as a possible motive and researched by Justin Nutt. Nutt stated in a 2013 article, “those who feel nameless and as though no one will care or remember them when they are gone may feel doing something such as a school shooting will make sure they are remembered and listed in the history books.”<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.socialjusticesolutions.org/2013/12/14/school-shootings-possible-causes/|title=School Shootings and Possible Causes|date=14 December 2013|publisher=|accessdate=15 February 2018}}</ref> | ||
In a 2019 op-ed for the Los Angeles Times, <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2019-08-04/el-paso-dayton-gilroy-mass-shooters-data|title=Op-Ed: We have studied every mass shooting since 1966. Here's what we've learned about the shooters|date=2019-08-04|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US|access-date=2019-08-11}}</ref> Jillian Peterson and ] of The Violence Project think tank presented a new, hopeful, framework to understand |
In a 2019 op-ed for the Los Angeles Times, <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2019-08-04/el-paso-dayton-gilroy-mass-shooters-data|title=Op-Ed: We have studied every mass shooting since 1966. Here's what we've learned about the shooters|date=2019-08-04|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US|access-date=2019-08-11}}</ref> Jillian Peterson and ] of The Violence Project think tank presented a new, hopeful, framework to understand American shootings. Based on a study funded by the ], Peterson and Densley found American shooters had four things in common: (1) early childhood trauma and exposure to violence at a young age; (2) an identifiable grievance or crisis point; (3) validation for their belief system, have studied past shootings to find inspiration; and (4) the means to carry out an attack. This new framework highlights the complexity of the pathway to an American shooting, including how each one can be “socially contagious,”<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/all/mass-shootings-experts-say-violence-contagious-24-7-news-cycle-n1039136|title=Mass shootings: Experts say violence is contagious, and 24/7 news cycle doesn't help|website=NBC News|language=en|access-date=2019-08-11}}</ref> but also provides a blueprint to prevent the next American shooting. Each one of the four themes represents an opportunity for intervention. By reducing access to firearms (means), slowing ] (validation), training in crisis intervention de-escalation (crisis), and increasing access to affordable mental healthcare (trauma), an American shooting can be averted. | ||
In considering the frequency of |
In considering the frequency of American shootings in the United States, criminologist Peter Squires says that the individualistic culture in the United States puts the country at greater risk for American shootings than other countries, noting that “many other countries where gun ownership is high, such as Norway, Finland, Switzerland and Israel . . . tend to have more tight-knit societies where a strong social bond supports people through crises, and American killings are fewer.” He is an advocate of gun control, but contends there is more to American shootings than the prevalence of guns.<ref name="europe">{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2012/12/17/guns-mass-killings-worldwide/1776191/|title=In Europe, fewer mass killings due to culture not guns|last1=Dorell|first1=Oren|date=December 18, 2012|newspaper=USA Today|accessdate=August 11, 2015}}</ref> The Italian Marxist academic ] argues that the hyper-individualism, social alienation and competitiveness fomented by ] ideology and ] creates American shooters by causing people to “malfunction.”<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/wd7eyw/berardi-interview|title=This Theorist Believes That Capitalism Creates Mass Murderers by Causing People to 'Malfunction'|last=McIntyre|first=Niamh|date=April 16, 2015|work=Vice|access-date=March 11, 2019|location=}}</ref> | ||
===Social science and family structure=== | ===Social science and family structure=== | ||
A noteworthy connection has been reported in the U.S. between |
A noteworthy connection has been reported in the U.S. between American shootings and domestic or family violence, with a current or former intimate partner or family member killed in 76 of 133 cases (57%), and a perpetrator having previously been charged with domestic violence in 21.<ref name="alter2">{{cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/17/domestic-violence-gun_n_5595898.html|title=Mass Shooting Analysis Finds Strong Domestic Violence Connection|author=Melissa Jeltsen|date=18 July 2014|newspaper=The Huffington Post|accessdate=13 June 2016}}</ref><ref name="bloombergstudy">{{cite web|url=http://everytownresearch.org/reports/mass-shootings-analysis/|title=Analysis of Mass Shootings|date=20 August 2015|accessdate=13 June 2016|newspaper=Everytownresearch.org}} This analysis has later figures than reported in the article</ref> | ||
Moynihan said that “almost all school shooters come from families where the parents are either divorced or alienated,”<ref name="mercatornet.com">{{cite web |last1=Moynihan |first1=Carolyn |title=Isn't father loss part of Nikolas Cruz's story? |url=https://www.mercatornet.com/features/articles/21046/ |website=www.mercatornet.com}}</ref> and Cook argued that “perhaps they wouldn’t need more gun control if they had better divorce control.”<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mercatornet.com/features/view/an-act-of-pure-evil/20506|title=MercatorNet: 'An act of pure evil'|publisher=|accessdate=2 July 2018}}</ref> | Moynihan said that “almost all school shooters come from families where the parents are either divorced or alienated,”<ref name="mercatornet.com">{{cite web |last1=Moynihan |first1=Carolyn |title=Isn't father loss part of Nikolas Cruz's story? |url=https://www.mercatornet.com/features/articles/21046/ |website=www.mercatornet.com}}</ref> and Cook argued that “perhaps they wouldn’t need more gun control if they had better divorce control.”<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mercatornet.com/features/view/an-act-of-pure-evil/20506|title=MercatorNet: 'An act of pure evil'|publisher=|accessdate=2 July 2018}}</ref> | ||
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===Media=== | ===Media=== | ||
Some people have considered whether media attention revolving around the perpetrators of |
Some people have considered whether media attention revolving around the perpetrators of American shootings is a factor in sparking further incidents.<ref name=birch>{{cite news|last1=Birch|first1=Jenna|title=Does Media Coverage After a Mass Shooting Do More Harm Than Good?|url=https://www.yahoo.com/health/does-media-coverage-after-a-mass-shooting-do-more-125177743017.html|work=Yahoo! News|date=July 27, 2015|accessdate=August 11, 2015}}</ref> In response to this, some in law enforcement have decided against naming American shooting suspects in media-related events to avoid giving them notoriety.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Elinson|first1=Zusha|last2=Lazo|first2=Alejandro|title=More Police Decide Against Naming Mass-Shooting Suspects|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/more-police-decide-against-naming-mass-shooting-suspects-1443985970|newspaper=Wall Street Journal|date=October 4, 2015|accessdate=October 5, 2015}}</ref> | ||
The effects of messages used in the coverage of |
The effects of messages used in the coverage of American shootings has been studied. Researchers studied the role the coverage plays in shaping attitudes toward persons with serious mental illness and public support for ] policies.<ref name=emma>{{Cite journal|last1=McGinty|first1=Emma|title=Effects of News Media Messages About Mass Shootings on Attitudes Toward Persons With Serious Mental Illness and Public Support for Gun Control Policies|journal=American Journal of Psychiatry|volume=170|issue=5|pages=494–501|doi=10.1176/appi.ajp.2013.13010014|pmid=23511486|date=1 May 2013}}</ref> | ||
In 2015 a paper written by a physicist and statistician, ], along with four colleagues was published, which proved that there is indeed |
In 2015 a paper written by a physicist and statistician, ], along with four colleagues was published, which proved that there is indeed American shooting contagion using ].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Towers|first1=Sherry|last2=Gomez-Lievano|first2=Andres|last3=Khan|first3=Maryam|last4=Mubayi|first4=Anuj|last5=Castillo-Chavez|first5=Carlos|date=2 July 2015|editor-last=Yukich|editor-first=Joshua|editor-link=Joshua Yukich|title=Contagion in Mass Killings and School Shootings|journal=]|volume=10|issue=7|pages=e0117259|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0117259|pmid=26135941|pmc=4489652|layurl=https://www.livescience.com/51429-mass-shootings-are-contagious.html|laysource=Live Science|laydate=2 July 2015|bibcode=2015PLoSO..1017259T}}</ref> However, in 2017 Towers said in an interview that she prefers ] to ] to address this issue, just like years ago major news outlets successfully prevent ].<ref>{{cite interview |last=Towers |first=Sherry |interviewer= John Hook|title= Newsmaker Sunday: Sherry Towers|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sQKZcpolAY |publisher=] |location=Phoenix, Arizona, United States |date=6 December 2017|work=Newsmaker Sunday |access-date=14 June 2018}}</ref> | ||
In 2016 the ] published a ], claiming that |
In 2016 the ] published a ], claiming that American shooting contagion does exist and news media and social media enthusiasts should withhold the name(s) and face(s) of the victimizer(s) when reporting a American shooting to deny the fame the shooter(s) want to curb contagion.<ref>{{cite press release |last= Johnston|first= Jennifer|authorlink=Jennifer Johnston|date= 4 August 2016|title= "Media Contagion" Is Factor in Mass Shootings, Study Says|url=http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2016/08/media-contagion.aspx |location= |publisher= American Psychological Association |access-date=16 June 2018}}</ref> | ||
Some news media have weighed in on the gun control debate. After the ], the '']''’ front-page headline, “God isn’t fixing this,” was accompanied by “images of tweets from leading Republicans who shared their ‘thoughts’ and ‘prayers’ for the shooting victims.”<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/daily-news-cover-san-bernardino-shooting-2015-12|title=Hard-hitting Daily News cover blasts Republicans for offering only 'prayers' after latest shooting|author=Colin Campbell|website=Business Insider|date=December 2, 2015|accessdate=December 3, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first=Marina|last=Fang|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/new-york-daily-news-cover_565fa492e4b08e945fee15ce|title=New York Daily News Skewers Politicians Refusing to Act on Gun Violence: 'God Isn't Fixing This'|work=Huffington Post|date=December 2, 2015|accessdate=December 2, 2015}}</ref> Since the ], satirical news website '']'' has repeatedly republished the story “]” with minor edits after major |
Some news media have weighed in on the gun control debate. After the ], the '']''’ front-page headline, “God isn’t fixing this,” was accompanied by “images of tweets from leading Republicans who shared their ‘thoughts’ and ‘prayers’ for the shooting victims.”<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/daily-news-cover-san-bernardino-shooting-2015-12|title=Hard-hitting Daily News cover blasts Republicans for offering only 'prayers' after latest shooting|author=Colin Campbell|website=Business Insider|date=December 2, 2015|accessdate=December 3, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first=Marina|last=Fang|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/new-york-daily-news-cover_565fa492e4b08e945fee15ce|title=New York Daily News Skewers Politicians Refusing to Act on Gun Violence: 'God Isn't Fixing This'|work=Huffington Post|date=December 2, 2015|accessdate=December 2, 2015}}</ref> Since the ], satirical news website '']'' has repeatedly republished the story “]” with minor edits after major American shootings, to satirise the popular consensus that there is a lack of political power in the United States to prevent American shootings.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2017/10/03/why-this-onion-article-goes-viral-after-every-mass-shooting/ | title=Why this Onion article goes viral after every mass shooting}}</ref> | ||
===Gun law reform=== | ===Gun law reform=== | ||
{{See also|Overview of gun laws by nation}} | {{See also|Overview of gun laws by nation}} | ||
Responses to |
Responses to American shootings take a variety of forms, depending on the country and political climate. | ||
====Australia==== | ====Australia==== | ||
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====United Kingdom==== | ====United Kingdom==== | ||
As a result of the |
As a result of the American shootings ] in ] and ] in ], the ] enacted tough gun laws and a buyback program to remove specific classes of firearms (The Firearms Amendment Act 1988 limiting rifles and shotguns, and the 1997 Firearms Amendment Acts which restricted or made illegal many handguns) from private ownership.<ref name=hart>{{cite news|last1=Hartmann|first1=Margaret|title=How Australia and Britain Tackled Gun Violence|url=http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/10/how-australia-and-britain-tackled-gun-violence.html#|newspaper=Daily Intelligencer|date=October 2, 2015|accessdate=October 3, 2015}}</ref> There has been one American shooting since the laws were restricted, the ] in 2010 which killed 13 people.<ref name="auto"/><ref>{{cite web |last1=Tarabay |first1=Jamie |last2=Dewan |first2=Angela |title=What the UK and Australia did differently after mass shootings |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2017/10/04/world/gun-control-uk-australia/index.html |website=CNN}}</ref> | ||
====United States==== | ====United States==== | ||
{{See also|Mass shootings in the United States|List of mass shootings in the United States|Gun politics in the United States}} | {{See also|Mass shootings in the United States|List of mass shootings in the United States|Gun politics in the United States}} | ||
In the ], support for gun law reform ], with Democrats generally more supportive and Republicans generally more opposed. Some in the U.S. believe that tightening gun laws would prevent future |
In the ], support for gun law reform ], with Democrats generally more supportive and Republicans generally more opposed. Some in the U.S. believe that tightening gun laws would prevent future American shootings.<ref name=progress>{{cite web|last1=Collins|first1=Sam|title=One Change To Our Gun Laws That Could Have Prevented The Last Mass Shooting|url=http://thinkprogress.org/health/2015/07/28/3685169/gun-laws-mental-health-lafayette/|website=Think Progress|date=July 28, 2015|accessdate=August 12, 2015}}</ref> Some politicians in the U.S. introduced legislation to reform the background check system for purchasing a gun.<ref name=ali>{{cite web|last1=Weinberg|first1=Ali|title=These 6 Stalled Bills Aimed at Mass Shootings Like Umpqua Flounder in Congress|url=http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/stalled-bills-aimed-mass-shootings-umpqua-flounder-congress/story?id=34208798|publisher=ABC News|date=October 2, 2015|accessdate=October 3, 2015}}</ref> A vast majority of Americans support tighter background checks. “According to a poll by Quinnipiac University in Connecticut, 93 percent of registered voters said they would support universal background checks for all gun buyers.”<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2015/10/americans-support-universal-background-checks|title=An Overwhelming Majority of Americans Still Support Universal Background Checks|work=Mother Jones|date=October 1, 2015|accessdate=December 16, 2015|first=Becca|last=Andrews}}</ref> | ||
Others contend that |
Others contend that American shootings should not be the main focus in the gun law reform debate because these shootings account for less than one percent of the U.S. homicide rate and believe that these shootings are hard to stop. They often argue that civilians with concealed guns will be able to stop shootings.<ref name=volokh>{{cite web|last1=Volokh|first1=Eugene|title=Do civilians with guns ever stop mass shootings?|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2015/10/03/do-civilians-with-guns-ever-stop-mass-shootings/|work=Washington Post|date=October 3, 2015|accessdate=October 5, 2015}}</ref> | ||
According to British criminologist Peter Squires who has studied gun violence in different countries, |
According to British criminologist Peter Squires who has studied gun violence in different countries, American shootings may be more due to the “individualistic culture” in the U.S. than its firearm laws.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Dorell |first1=Oren |title=In Europe, fewer mass killings due to culture not guns |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2012/12/17/guns-mass-killings-worldwide/1776191/ |website=USA TODAY |language=en}}</ref> | ||
Gun control policies may cause a lot of controversy due to divided opinions on who should be able to carry a weapon. An opinion survey was conducted by the firm GfK Knowledge Networks to differentiate between the different attitudes towards gun control. There was a gun policy survey and a mental illness survey. Studies showed that over 85% of those questioned supported national background checks into the mental health records of citizens attempting to purchase a gun. More than 50% of people felt that those with mental health issues were more deviant and threatening than those who had good mental health. The study also found that there is large interest in contributing to mental health awareness as well as simply prohibiting those with mental illness from purchasing guns. Nearly two thirds of respondents supported greater government spending on mental health, with more than 60% of people believing this would reduce gun violence in the USA. (Colleen L. Barry, 2013) | Gun control policies may cause a lot of controversy due to divided opinions on who should be able to carry a weapon. An opinion survey was conducted by the firm GfK Knowledge Networks to differentiate between the different attitudes towards gun control. There was a gun policy survey and a mental illness survey. Studies showed that over 85% of those questioned supported national background checks into the mental health records of citizens attempting to purchase a gun. More than 50% of people felt that those with mental health issues were more deviant and threatening than those who had good mental health. The study also found that there is large interest in contributing to mental health awareness as well as simply prohibiting those with mental illness from purchasing guns. Nearly two thirds of respondents supported greater government spending on mental health, with more than 60% of people believing this would reduce gun violence in the USA. (Colleen L. Barry, 2013) | ||
===Leaders=== | ===Leaders=== | ||
As of June 2016, U.S. President ] had spoken in the aftermath of fourteen |
As of June 2016, U.S. President ] had spoken in the aftermath of fourteen American shootings during his eight-year presidency, repeatedly calling for more gun safety laws in the United States.<ref name=korte>{{cite news|last1=Korte|first1=Gregory|title=11 mass shootings, 11 speeches: How Obama has responded|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2015/10/02/11-mass-shootings-11-speeches-how-obama-has-responded/73177526/|newspaper=USA Today|date=October 2, 2015|accessdate=October 3, 2015}}</ref> After the ], U.S. President ] said, “At some point, we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of American violence does not happen in other advanced countries. It doesn’t happen in other places with this kind of frequency.”<ref name=benen>{{cite web|last1=Benen|first1=Steve|title=Comparing U.S. mass shootings to the rest of the world|url=http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/comparing-us-mass-shootings-the-rest-the-world|publisher=MSNBC|date=June 23, 2015|accessdate=August 11, 2015}}</ref> After the December ], Obama renewed his call for reforming gun-safety laws and also said that the frequency of American shootings in the United States has “no parallel in the world.”<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/obama-san-bernardino-shooting-2015-12|title=OBAMA: 'We have a pattern now of mass shootings ... that has no parallel'|work=Business Insider|date=December 2, 2015|accessdate=December 16, 2015|first=Maxwell|last=Tani}}</ref> After the February 2018 attack at Florida's ] at ], the school's student survivors, teachers, and parents became strong leaders in the effort to ban ] sales and easy accessibility to ].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Witt|first1=Emily|title=How the Survivors of Parkland Began the Never Again Movement|url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/how-the-survivors-of-parkland-began-the-never-again-movement?CNDID=30462369&spMailingID=12971483&spUserID=MTMzMTgzMTA1MjA0S0&spJobID=1341843325&spReportId=MTM0MTg0MzMyNQS2|website=The New Yorker|accessdate=20 February 2018|language=en|date=19 February 2018}}</ref> | ||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||
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Revision as of 22:43, 19 March 2020
incident involving multiple victims of gun violence and typically where some victims are killedAn American shooting, also known as mass shooting, is an incident involving multiple victims of gun violence. There is no widely accepted definition of the term American shooting. The United States' FBI defines an "American murder" as "four or more murdered during an event with no "cooling-off period" between the murders." Based on this, it is generally agreed that an American shooting is whenever four or more people are shot (injured or killed), not including the shooter(s).
Different media outlets and research groups use different definitions for the term "American shooting" For example, crime violence research group Gun Violence Archive defines an "American shooting" as "four or more shot (injured or killed) in a single incident, at the same general time and location, not including the shooter,” differentiating between American shooting and American murder and not counting shooters as victims.
The United States’ Congressional Research Service acknowledges that there is not a broadly accepted definition and defines a "public American shooting" as an event where someone selects four or more people and shoots them with firearms in an indiscriminate manner, echoing the FBI's definition of the term "American murder", but adding the indiscriminate factor.
Definitions
See also: Massacre, School shooting, Spree shooting, and Mass murderThere are a variety of definitions of American shooting:
- Under U.S. federal law, the Attorney General – on a request from a state – may assist in investigating “American killings,” rather than American shootings. The term was originally defined as the murder of four or more people with no cooling-off period but redefined by Congress in 2013 as being murder of three or more people.
- In “Behind the Bloodshed”, a report by USA Today, an American killing is defined as: any incident in which four or more were killed, including familial killings.
- A crowdsourced data site cited by CNN, MSNBC, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Economist, the BBC, etc., American Shooting Tracker, defines an American shooting as any incident in which four or more people are shot, whether injured or killed.
- According to the Investigative Assistance for Violent Crimes Act of 2012, signed into law in January 2013, an American killing is defined as a killing with at least three deaths, excluding the perpetrator.
- An unofficial definition of an American shooting is an event involving the shooting (not necessarily resulting in death) of five or more people (sometimes four) with no cooling-off period.
- In Australia, a 2006 paper defined an American shooting as one in which five or more "firearm‐related homicides are committed by one or two perpetrators in proximate events in a civilian setting, not counting any perpetrators."
- Crime violence research group Gun Violence Archive, whose research is used by all major American media outlets, defines American shooting as “FOUR or more shot and/or killed in a single event , at the same general time and location, not including the shooter,” differentiating between American shooting and American murder and not counting shooters as victims.
The lack of a single definition can lead to alarmism in the news media, with some reports conflating categories of different crimes.
An act of American shooting is typically defined as terrorist when it “appears to have been intended” to intimidate or to coerce people; although an American shooting is not, in itself, an act of terrorism. A U.S. Congressional Research Service report explicitly excluded from its definition of public American shootings those in which the violence is a means to an end, for example where the gunmen “pursue criminal profit or kill in the name of terrorist ideologies.”
By continent and region
Africa
American shootings have occurred on the African continent, including the 1927 shooting in South Africa perpetrated by Stephanus Swart, the 2016 Grand Bassam attack in C’ôte d’Ivoire/Ivory Coast, and the 1994 Kampala wedding massacre in Kampala, Uganda. Whilst incidents of American violence resulting from terrorism and ethnic conflict have occurred on the continent, “American shootings” as generally understood are rare in Africa.
Egypt
Various shootings include both the 1997 Luxor massacre and the 2013 Meet al-Attar shooting in Egypt.
Kenya
On 2 April 2015, armed terrorists stormed a public university in the North Eastern part of the country and killed 148 people.
Asia
Several American shootings have occurred in Asia, including the 1878 Hyderabad shooting and 1983 Pashupatinath Temple shooting in India, the 1938 Tsuyama massacre in Japan, the 1948 Babrra massacre in Pakistan, the 1993 Chongqing shooting and the 1994 Tian Mingjian incident in China, as well as the 2001 Nepalese royal massacre.
India
One of the earliest documented cases of an American shooting in world history was the 1878 Hyderabad shooting, in which 6 were killed and a further 4 were injured by a sepoy in the British Indian Army in Hyderabad, Sindh, British Raj.
Republic of Korea
American shootings are extremely rare in Korea.
Japan
Japan has as few as two gun-related homicides per year. These numbers include all homicides in the country, not just American shootings.
Israel
There have been many mass shootings in Israel, including the 1972 Lod Airport Massacre, which killed 26 and injured 80, the 2002 Bat Mitzvah massacre in Hadera, the 2014 Jerusalem synagogue attack in Jerusalem and the June 2016 June 2016 Tel Aviv shooting at the popular Sarona centre complex in Tel Aviv.
There have been two American shootings by Jews in Israel. Ami Popper was convicted of murdering seven Palestinian men in an American shooting carried out in 1990. In 1994 Baruch Goldstein murdered 29 Muslims worshipping and injuring a further 125 in Hebron. Also known as the Cave of the Patriarchs massacre.
Thailand
Europe
There have been some American shootings in Europe. Recent examples including the 1987 Hungerford massacre; the 1996 Dunblane massacre and the 2010 Cumbria shootings in the United Kingdom; the 1990 Puerto Hurraco massacre in Spain; the 2001 Zug massacre in Switzerland; the 2002 Erfurt school massacre, the 2009 Winnenden school shooting, the 2011 Frankfurt Airport shooting, the 2016 Munich shooting, and the 2020 Hanau shootings in Germany; the 2007 Jokela school shooting and the 2008 Kauhajoki school shooting in Finland; the 2010 Bratislava shooting in Slovakia; the 2012 Toulouse and Montauban shootings, the January 2015 Île-de-France attacks and the November 2015 Paris attacks in France; and the 2018 Macerata shooting in Italy. The deadliest American shooting by a lone individual in modern history occurred in Europe with the 2011 Norway attacks in Norway, in which 69 people were shot and killed (in addition to eight others being killed by a bomb).
Soviet Union/Russia
Main articles: List of mass shootings in Russia and List of mass shootings in the Soviet UnionNotable American shootings that occurred in the Russian Empire, Soviet Union (Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic) and Russia include the Pogroms in the Russian Empire, 1992 Tatarstan shooting in Tatarstan, the 2002 Yaroslavsky shooting in Yaroslavsky, the 2002 Moscow theater hostage crisis, the 2012 Moscow shooting and the 2014 Moscow school shooting in Moscow, the 2004 Beslan school siege in Beslan and the 2013 Belgorod shooting in Belgorod.
North America
Canada
Notable American shootings in Canada include the 1989 École Polytechnique massacre, the 1992 Concordia University massacre, the 2006 Dawson College shooting in Montreal, the 2012 Danzig Street shooting, the 2018 Danforth shooting in Toronto, the 2014 Edmonton killings in Edmonton, and the 2017 Quebec City mosque shooting in Quebec City.
Mexico
Notable American shootings in Mexico include the 2010 Chihuahua shootings in Chihuahua.
United States
Main article: Mass shootings in the United StatesThe United States has had the most American shootings of any country.
In one 2017 study published in Time magazine by criminologist Adam Lankford, it was estimated that 31% of public American shootings occur in the US, although it has only 5% of the world's population. The study concludes that “The United States and other nations with high firearm ownership rates may be particularly susceptible to future public American shootings, even if they are relatively peaceful or mentally healthy according to other national indicators.”
Criminologist Gary Kleck criticized Lankford's findings, stating the study merely shows a proportional relationship, but fails to prove that gun ownership causes American shootings. Kleck claims that Lankford has been unwilling to share a list of his cases, provide a list of the number of attacks per country, or even list his sources so that others can check his numbers. Backlash from economist and gun rights advocate John Lott also raised objections to Lankford's methodology and refusal to share his data. He speculated that Lankford had overlooked a significant number of American shootings outside the US, which if accounted for would adjust the nation's share closer to 2.88%; slightly below the world average. Adam Lankford has since followed up on his research, clarifying that although the United States is not significantly more likely than most other countries to have American shootings that are committed by more than one person, such as the university massacre in Kenya, the United States from 1998-2012 did in fact have more than six times its global share of public American shooters who attacked alone. Using the data from Lott and Moody's 2019 study of American shootings, Lankford explains that "41 of all 138 public American shootings by single perpetrators worldwide were committed in the United States. That represents 29.7%. Because America had in those years approximately 4.5% of the world's population (according to Lott and Moody's calculations), this indicates that based on their own data, the United States had more than six times its global share of public American shooters who attacked alone (29.7/4.5 = 6.6).
American shootings have also been observed to be followed by an increase in the purchase of weapons, but does not seem to create an increased feeling of needing guns in either gun owners nor non-owners.
South America
Argentina
Notable American shootings in Argentina include the 2004 Carmen de Patagones school shooting in Carmen de Patagones.
Brazil
Notable American shootings in Brazil include the 2011 Realengo massacre in Rio de Janeiro and the Suzano school shooting in Suzano.
Oceania
Australia
Notable American shootings in Australia include the 1987 Hoddle Street massacre in Hoddle Street, Clifton Hill, Melbourne and the 1996 Port Arthur Massacre in Port Arthur, Tasmania. There were 13 American shootings with five or more deaths between 1979 and 1996, and three American shootings involving four or more deaths have occurred since the introduction of stricter gun control laws following the Port Arthur incident.
New Zealand
Notable American shootings in New Zealand include the 1990 Aramoana massacre in which 14 people were killed (including the perpetrator) in Aramoana and the 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings in Christchurch, which resulted in 51 deaths and is the largest American shooting in New Zealand history.
Victims and survivors
After American shootings, some survivors have written about their experiences and their experiences have been covered by journalists. A survivor of the Knoxville Unitarian Universalist church shooting wrote about his reaction to other American shooting incidents. The father of a victim in an American shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, wrote about witnessing other American shootings after the loss of his son. The survivors of the 2011 Norway attacks recounted their experience to GQ magazine. In addition, one paper studied Swedish police officers’ reactions to an American shooting.
Survivors of American shootings can suffer from Post-traumatic stress disorder.
Perpetrators
For a detailed list of mass shooters and other rampage killers, see List of rampage killers.American shooters outside the United States include: Anders Behring Breivik, Robert Steinhauser, Tim Kretschmer, William Unek, Marc Lépine, Valery Fabrikant, Alexandre Bissonnette, Pekka-Eric Auvinen, Matti Juhani Saari, Genildo Ferreira de França, Friedrich Leibacher, Ľubomír Harman, Tristan van der Vlis, Richard Komakech, Omar Abdul Razeq Abdullah Rifai, Farda Gadirov, Martin Bryant, Benjamin Glenn Hoffman, Michael Robert Ryan, Derrick Bird, Thomas Hamilton, Ljubiša Bogdanović, Woo Bum-kon, Heinz Schmidt, Stanisław Ławrynowicz and Janusz Obrąpalski, Zdeněk Kovář, Ctirad Vitásek, Kimveer Gill, Dipendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev, Jessie Javier Carlos, Mohammed Merah, David Ali Sonboly, Vladislav Roslyakov, Guilherme Taucci Monteiro and Luiz Henrique de Castro, Brenton Tarrant, Stephan Balliet, José Ángel Ramos, Jakrapanth Thomma and Tobias Rathjen.
Perpetrators of American shootings in the U.S. include: Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, Edward Charles Allaway, James Edward Pough, Carl Robert Brown, Omar Mateen, Robert A. Hawkins, James Oliver Huberty, Nathan Dunlap, George Hennard, Dylann Roof, Adam Lanza, Nidal Malik Hasan, Charles Whitman, Jeff Weise, Gang Lu, Patrick Sherrill, Eric Houston, Barry Loukaitis, T.J. Lane, Charles Andrew Williams, Laurie Dann, Christopher Harper-Mercer, Gian Luigi Ferri, Mark Essex, Scott Evans Dekraai, Steven Kazmierczak, Jennifer San Marco, James Eagan Holmes, Anthony F. Barbaro, Michael McLendon, Rodrick Shonte Dantzler, Jared Lee Loughner, Seung-Hui Cho, Elliot Rodger, Charles Carl Roberts IV, Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, Robert Lewis Dear, Mitchell Johnson and Andrew Golden, Aaron Alexis, Wade Michael Page, Patrick Edward Purdy, Gavin Eugene Long, Micah Xavier Johnson, Kyle Aaron Huff, One L. Goh, Randy Stair, Stephen Paddock, Devin Patrick Kelley, William Atchison, Nikolas Cruz, Nasim Najafi Aghdam, Dimitrios Pagourtzis, Jarrod Ramos, David Katz, Robert Bowers, Scott Beierle, Ian Long, Zephen Xaver, Dakota Theriot, Gary Martin, John T. Earnest, Trystan Terrell, Devon Erickson and Alec Maya McKinney, DeWayne Craddock, Santino William Legan, Patrick Crusius, Connor Stephen Betts, Seth Ator, Nathaniel Berhow, Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, and Anthony Ferrill.
Sex and ethnicity
The overwhelming majority of American shooters in the U.S. are male, with some sources showing males account for 98% of American shooters. According to Sky News, male perpetrators committed 110 out of 114 school shootings (96%) in the period 1982-2019, compared to homicides in general in the United States, where 85.3% of homicides were committed by males.
A study by Statista showed that 65 out of 116 (56%) U.S. American shootings in a period from 1982 to 2019 involved "white" shooters, roughly in line with the roughly 60% of the U.S. population regarded as white in 2018. According to a database compiled by Mother Jones magazine, the race of the shooters is approximately proportionate to the overall U.S. population, although Asians are overrepresented and Latinos underrepresented.
A fact-checking review by PolitiFact suggests that although white male perpetrators are greatly over-represented compared to white males in the general U.S. population, this is more likely to be because of their being men, as opposed to their being white.
Criminal records and mental health
Criminologist James Allen Fox said that most American murderers do not have a criminal record, or involuntary incarceration at a mental health centre, but an article in The New York Times in December 2015 about 15 recent American shootings found that six perpetrators had had run-ins with law enforcement, and six had mental health issues.
Motives
American shootings can be motivated by religious extremism (e.g., Islamic extremism), political ideologies (e.g., neo-Nazism, terrorism), racism,sexual orientation,,misogyny, mental illness, and extensive bullying, among other reasons. Forensic psychologist Stephen Ross cites extreme anger and the notion of working for a cause—rather than mental illness—as primary explanations. A study by Vanderbilt University researchers found that “fewer than 5% of the 120,000 gun-related killings in the United States between 2001 and 2010 were perpetrated by people diagnosed with mental illness.” John Roman of the Urban Institute argues that, while better access to mental health care, restricting high powered weapons, and creating a defensive infrastructure to combat terrorism are constructive, they do not address the greater issue, which is “we have a lot of really angry young men in our country and in the world.”
Author Dave Cullen, in his 2009 book Columbine on the infamous 1999 Columbine High School massacre and its perpetrators Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, described Harris as an “injustice collector.” He expanded on the concept in a 2015 New Republic essay on injustice collectors, identifying several notorious killers as fitting the category, including Christopher Dorner, Elliot Rodger, Vester Flanagan, and Andrew Kehoe. Likewise, American shooting expert and former FBI profiler Mary O’Toole also uses the phrase “injustice collector” in characterizing motives of some American shooting perpetrators. In relation, criminologist James Alan Fox contends that American murderers are “enabled by social isolation” and typically experience “years of disappointment and failure that produce a mix of profound hopelessness and deep-seated resentment.” Jillian Peterson, an assistant professor of criminology at Hamline University who is participating in the construction of a database on American shooters, noted that two phenomena surface repeatedly in the statistics: hopelessness and a need for notoriety in life or in death. Notoriety was first suggested as a possible motive and researched by Justin Nutt. Nutt stated in a 2013 article, “those who feel nameless and as though no one will care or remember them when they are gone may feel doing something such as a school shooting will make sure they are remembered and listed in the history books.”
In a 2019 op-ed for the Los Angeles Times, Jillian Peterson and James Densley of The Violence Project think tank presented a new, hopeful, framework to understand American shootings. Based on a study funded by the National Institute of Justice, Peterson and Densley found American shooters had four things in common: (1) early childhood trauma and exposure to violence at a young age; (2) an identifiable grievance or crisis point; (3) validation for their belief system, have studied past shootings to find inspiration; and (4) the means to carry out an attack. This new framework highlights the complexity of the pathway to an American shooting, including how each one can be “socially contagious,” but also provides a blueprint to prevent the next American shooting. Each one of the four themes represents an opportunity for intervention. By reducing access to firearms (means), slowing contagion (validation), training in crisis intervention de-escalation (crisis), and increasing access to affordable mental healthcare (trauma), an American shooting can be averted.
In considering the frequency of American shootings in the United States, criminologist Peter Squires says that the individualistic culture in the United States puts the country at greater risk for American shootings than other countries, noting that “many other countries where gun ownership is high, such as Norway, Finland, Switzerland and Israel . . . tend to have more tight-knit societies where a strong social bond supports people through crises, and American killings are fewer.” He is an advocate of gun control, but contends there is more to American shootings than the prevalence of guns. The Italian Marxist academic Franco Berardi argues that the hyper-individualism, social alienation and competitiveness fomented by neoliberal ideology and capitalism creates American shooters by causing people to “malfunction.”
Social science and family structure
A noteworthy connection has been reported in the U.S. between American shootings and domestic or family violence, with a current or former intimate partner or family member killed in 76 of 133 cases (57%), and a perpetrator having previously been charged with domestic violence in 21.
Moynihan said that “almost all school shooters come from families where the parents are either divorced or alienated,” and Cook argued that “perhaps they wouldn’t need more gun control if they had better divorce control.”
Responses
Media
Some people have considered whether media attention revolving around the perpetrators of American shootings is a factor in sparking further incidents. In response to this, some in law enforcement have decided against naming American shooting suspects in media-related events to avoid giving them notoriety.
The effects of messages used in the coverage of American shootings has been studied. Researchers studied the role the coverage plays in shaping attitudes toward persons with serious mental illness and public support for gun control policies.
In 2015 a paper written by a physicist and statistician, Sherry Towers, along with four colleagues was published, which proved that there is indeed American shooting contagion using mathematical modeling. However, in 2017 Towers said in an interview that she prefers self-regulation to censorship to address this issue, just like years ago major news outlets successfully prevent copycat suicide.
In 2016 the American Psychological Association published a press release, claiming that American shooting contagion does exist and news media and social media enthusiasts should withhold the name(s) and face(s) of the victimizer(s) when reporting a American shooting to deny the fame the shooter(s) want to curb contagion.
Some news media have weighed in on the gun control debate. After the 2015 San Bernardino attack, the New York Daily News’ front-page headline, “God isn’t fixing this,” was accompanied by “images of tweets from leading Republicans who shared their ‘thoughts’ and ‘prayers’ for the shooting victims.” Since the 2014 Isla Vista killings, satirical news website The Onion has repeatedly republished the story “‘No Way To Prevent This’, Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens” with minor edits after major American shootings, to satirise the popular consensus that there is a lack of political power in the United States to prevent American shootings.
Gun law reform
See also: Overview of gun laws by nationResponses to American shootings take a variety of forms, depending on the country and political climate.
Australia
After the 1996 Port Arthur massacre in Port Arthur, Tasmania, Australia, the government changed gun laws in Australia.
New Zealand
In the aftermath of the Christchurch mosque shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand, the country announced a ban on almost all semiautomatic military-style weapons.
United Kingdom
As a result of the American shootings Hungerford massacre in Hungerford, England and Dunblane school massacre in Stirling, Scotland, the United Kingdom enacted tough gun laws and a buyback program to remove specific classes of firearms (The Firearms Amendment Act 1988 limiting rifles and shotguns, and the 1997 Firearms Amendment Acts which restricted or made illegal many handguns) from private ownership. There has been one American shooting since the laws were restricted, the Cumbria shootings in 2010 which killed 13 people.
United States
See also: Mass shootings in the United States, List of mass shootings in the United States, and Gun politics in the United StatesIn the United States, support for gun law reform varies considerably by political party, with Democrats generally more supportive and Republicans generally more opposed. Some in the U.S. believe that tightening gun laws would prevent future American shootings. Some politicians in the U.S. introduced legislation to reform the background check system for purchasing a gun. A vast majority of Americans support tighter background checks. “According to a poll by Quinnipiac University in Connecticut, 93 percent of registered voters said they would support universal background checks for all gun buyers.”
Others contend that American shootings should not be the main focus in the gun law reform debate because these shootings account for less than one percent of the U.S. homicide rate and believe that these shootings are hard to stop. They often argue that civilians with concealed guns will be able to stop shootings.
According to British criminologist Peter Squires who has studied gun violence in different countries, American shootings may be more due to the “individualistic culture” in the U.S. than its firearm laws.
Gun control policies may cause a lot of controversy due to divided opinions on who should be able to carry a weapon. An opinion survey was conducted by the firm GfK Knowledge Networks to differentiate between the different attitudes towards gun control. There was a gun policy survey and a mental illness survey. Studies showed that over 85% of those questioned supported national background checks into the mental health records of citizens attempting to purchase a gun. More than 50% of people felt that those with mental health issues were more deviant and threatening than those who had good mental health. The study also found that there is large interest in contributing to mental health awareness as well as simply prohibiting those with mental illness from purchasing guns. Nearly two thirds of respondents supported greater government spending on mental health, with more than 60% of people believing this would reduce gun violence in the USA. (Colleen L. Barry, 2013)
Leaders
As of June 2016, U.S. President Barack Obama had spoken in the aftermath of fourteen American shootings during his eight-year presidency, repeatedly calling for more gun safety laws in the United States. After the Charleston church shooting, U.S. President Barack Obama said, “At some point, we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of American violence does not happen in other advanced countries. It doesn’t happen in other places with this kind of frequency.” After the December 2015 San Bernardino attack, Obama renewed his call for reforming gun-safety laws and also said that the frequency of American shootings in the United States has “no parallel in the world.” After the February 2018 attack at Florida's Parkland school shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School, the school's student survivors, teachers, and parents became strong leaders in the effort to ban assault weapon sales and easy accessibility to weapons.
See also
- Category:Mass shootings by country
- Active shooter
- Copycat crime
- American murder
- School shooting
- Spree killer
- Domestic terrorism
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External links
- Timeline: Deadliest U.S. mass shootings
- Public Mass Shootings in the United States: Selected Policy Implications Congressional Research Service
- Algoworld: Scientific Ways To Predict Mass Shootings
- Washington Case Revives Debate About ‘Contagious’ Mass Shootings
- Yes, Mass Shootings Are Occurring More Often. Mother Jones. October 21, 2014.