Mass Murders (Shooting) are NOT on the rise.

I have seen some commentary about how shooting sprees are on the increase.
This is just confirmation bias.

Since 1980 there has been a steady average of 20 incidents per year.



The biggest change really is the News. It is constantly focusing on how things could have been worse which in turn acts as a blue print for the next broken monster that comes along.


Fantastic article on shootings-last 30 years.

Please stop looking at guns, god, medicines, mind control, video games.. whatever else is popular to blame things on today-anything except personal responsibility and accountability anyway. These people are monsters who were broken from birth and deserve no excuses. They chose these acts. They wanted glory. They deserve to be forgotten and the victims remembered.

Lets not forget that the SAME day the shooting took place in Connecticut there was a similar incident in China. He did not have a firearm-he had a knife. Still he injured and or killed more than 20 in his rampage as well.

China Knife Attack on School

Originally posted by lordtyp0
Lets not forget that the SAME day the shooting took place in Connecticut there was a similar incident in China. He did not have a firearm-he had a knife. Still he injured and or killed more than 20 in his rampage as well.

China Knife Attack on School

They were injured, not killed. However, the article also chronicles fatalities in other non-firearm attacks. This was very interesting to me ( taken from your linked article):

Some Chinese bloggers have blamed the lack of freedom of expression for the attacks, suggesting people frustrated by their own circumstances but lacking the means to seek justice or voice their concerns with the all-powerful communist government, lash out instead at the least powerful members of society. China's lack of mental health care facilities may also be partly to blame for the attacks. There are almost no mental health care facilities in rural communities, which have experienced dramatic changes over the last several years as China's economy has grown.

reply to post by lordtyp0


I posted it in another Thread.

Yellow journalism

Its back with a Vengeance.......

S&F

reply to post by Advantage


I was unsure if anyone had passed at the time of article so I left it open. Either way-these sort of things are not an American phenomenon. In other areas we simply call them terrorists or other labels.

As the population grows-atrocity will occur in higher numbers, but commonly the same percentile. It can leave one with the impression of doomsday.

Running Amok is a cultural psychosis that I've always found fascinating and could also account for the incident in China. But, might not be related to anything obviously. I doubt we will hear anything more about what happened over there in the American Press.

In fact... What is everyones take that perhaps Amok (see link in the previous response) has crossed cultures and spread around?

Basically moments of explosive rage where the person goes berserk and tries to kill or maim people and animals-until put down.

Need to look into the Malaysian culture for parallels to others...

reply to post by lordtyp0


Let me just say that I agree that these incidents are not on the rise. With that said, it doesn't matter. A movie theatre, a shopping mall, a school and the dumbass from Illinois are making a strong case for stricter gun laws.

When an elementary school comes under fire and kids are murdered, it's an epidemic in the minds of many. It does not matter that the shooter stole the weapons he used. It does not matter that the shooter tried to buy weapons and was denied by the store. It only matters that he went into a school and murdered children.

Originally posted by lordtyp0
reply to post by Advantage

 

I was unsure if anyone had passed at the time of article so I left it open. Either way-these sort of things are not an American phenomenon. In other areas we simply call them terrorists or other labels.

As the population grows-atrocity will occur in higher numbers, but commonly the same percentile. It can leave one with the impression of doomsday.

Running Amok is a cultural psychosis that I've always found fascinating and could also account for the incident in China. But, might not be related to anything obviously. I doubt we will hear anything more about what happened over there in the American Press.

No, not an American phenomenon at all Its also nothing new. People seem fixated on this and all of the bogus "facts" fed to them by the media... when its noting new and they really havent cared before to "cry in their eyes out" when its happened previously. Im not young but when young I paid attention regardless of the internet not being available and consulted every 5 minutes to tell me whats happening and how to think/feel about it. WHen I was in school.. 70's-80's and college... 80's-90's.. it was about the same average as now. ( Good ATS concerning this not being a "violent gun nut American problem : www.abovetopsecret.com... )

Everyone is crying and drawing enough attention to themselves on the backs of dead children so much they are missing the issue : the common denominator between ALL killers is the lack of empathy and lack of understanding of the sanctity of life. That can be cultural, societal, partially though not wholly due to mental disturbance and the effects of empathy killing psychiatric drugs.. etc. Even lives you dont agree with have a right to live. With the recent shooting, the age of the children is horrid, but only points to what I call a "kitten killer". A pathological individual that has such a power issue themselves they crave to kill, harm, or destroy things smaller than them... the powerless, the small, the innocent, the ones they know CANT put up a fight. The easy target. Even the most aggressive of our society still shelter the little things, the defenseless... not so with this type. I will lay money on the fact that if confronted by a stronger figure or armed adult.. the killer wouldnt have been as successful as he was. To shoot children more than once.. 20 of them.. takes time and deliberation. There was time to stop this. Im not privy to facts like NO ONE ELSE on ats is.. but Id bet that the only reason he stopped at 20 kids and killed himself was that he simply ran out of things to kill in his immediate area. The others were barricaded, etc. THIS is also a common theme in many spree killings... weaker and readily available victims.

Saying all of that.. I personally dont believe there is a "common denominator" to discover to use as a prevention tool. Thats hitting on precrime. Kind of like the Hare Psychopathy Checklist.. its a ridiculous idea. I believe you cant prevent these things as we cant see into the minds and hearts of people.. but we can sure as hell stop them once they start. Its this idea on ATS and elsewhere that we can tell who these folks are that gets to me.. deeply. You can understand this.. like in my younger days, morons ( professionals) actually said out loud that homosexuality was caused by sex abuse and homosexuals would indoctrinate and abuse children. That homosexuality and pedophilia are related to each other and one indicates another is as absurd as claiming that certain mental illnesses produce spree killers. Dangerous statement.. VERY slippery slope. The media loves it though.. as well as those firmly attached to the MSM teat .. even here on ATS.

One poster made a witch hunt thread.. aspergers and autism spectrum disorders were the cause. She was supposedly some professor at a psychological dept or some wildly inventive lie. This is our slippery slope. Im sick of everyone clamoring to find a witch to burn here on ATS and elsewhere.. all fed by the media they claim to hate so much. The same media that has convinced these sorts that there are too many guns and that school/spree shootings are on this huge rise and we must act immediately and rashly due to it. Its the "nudge". Im continually shocked that this stuff is swallowed so readily. As if our membership and most people at large are baby birds sitting there with their mouths open ready to consume some completely regurgitated BS and never a independent thought of their own... much less investigation into the whole issue ( since they claim its all that important to them).


The previous poster mentioned Yellow Journalism? Hell yes. Couple that with a completely idiotic populace motivated only by emotion and what they are fed.

reply to post by Advantage


Couldn't agree more. Having weapons or not isn't the issue. People who are going to kill will do so one way or another. Removing firearms from the equation just means the victims have a lessened chance of defending themselves (They are called equalizers for a reason). I suspect schools are targeted in good part because so few people carry them there.

That being said-Connecticut is somewhat special-the shooter was related to a teacher and evidence indicated that this was the reason for targeting.

I do agree on the Kitten-Killer persona. Said it several times, many people are just broken. More population = more numbers of broken people. Though its not common for even a true psychopath to murder, more psychopaths mean increased risk-especially when they believe there will be glory in it as they would also think they could beat the odds of court.

Oy, my general distaste for humanity at large grows almost daily. Wish I had some land with a cave to go become a naked hermit in.