We are starting to understand more about mass shooters and one of the most disturbing is that most shooters obtain the guns they use LEGALLY. And we know that the NRA, legislatures across America, and “second amendment defenders” refuse to even discuss some reasonable curbs on the wide availability of guns and weapons of mass carnage.
Well, now there is this: “A new study funded by the Department of Justice has analyzed all mass shootings since 1966, exploring what the gunmen have in common. It’s the largest study of its type ever paid for by the U.S. government.”
Real Fact-based information
What do the shooters have in common?
Almost all have a history of trauma, childhood violence, and a grievance of some kind.
Experts have long cautioned that there is no single profile for a mass shooter. But the Violence Project researchers found some personal characteristics often align with certain types of locations targeted by shooters, and created five general categories:
- K-12 shooters: White males, typically students or former students of the school, with a history of trauma. Most are suicidal, plan their crime extensively, and make others aware of their plans at some point before the shooting. They use multiple guns that they typically steal from a family member.
- College and university shooters: Non-white males who are current students of the university, are suicidal, and have a history of violence and childhood trauma. They typically use legally obtained handguns and leave behind some sort of manifesto.
- Workplace shooters: Fortysomething males without a specific racial profile. Most are employees of their targeted location, often a blue-collar job site, and have some grievance against the workplace. They use legally purchased handguns and assault rifles.
- Place of worship shooters: White males in their 40s, typically motivated by hate or domestic violence that spills out into public. Their crimes typically involve little planning.
- Shooters at a commercial location (such as a store or restaurant): White men in their 30s with a violent history and criminal record. They typically have no connection to the targeted location and use a single, legally obtained firearm. About a third show evidence of a “thought disorder,” a term for a mental health condition, like schizophrenia, that results in disorganized thinking, paranoia, or delusions.
Furthermore, we know now that they can be stopped
Moreover, 54 percent of perpetrators displayed prior warning signs, “such as a threat or act of violence.”
As recently reported on The Crime Report, a new FBI study examined 52 mass shootings between 1972 and 2015, and found that the perpetrators were often men with histories of carrying out physical violence.
“Rather than erupting without warning, the attackers had worried the people around them, the study found. And in many cases, someone in the attacker’s life knew they endorsed violence to further their ideology,” The Crime Report said.
from Time
“In 80% of the mass shooting cases that we studied the person leaked their plans ahead of time and made a specific threat,” Jillian Peterson, an assistant professor of criminology and Criminal Justice at Hamline University, tells TIME. “You have to take them seriously.”
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There have been at least 27 threats since that deadly weekend [El Paso and Dayton], and experts say the idea of “mass shooting contagion” — or someone being inspired by recent mass shootings — is a real concern.
From the study, it appears Columbine is inspirational. This, to me, is the most terrifying revelation. I always wondered how could their parents NOT KNOW. Reading A Mother’s Reckoning: Living with the Aftermath of Tragedy by Sue Klebold was an eye-opener.
This is preliminary, and I know I haven’ t given this study it’s due. But it’s a start of the discussion. And now we have some FACTS.