We've already learned that arguing about the causes of the mass shootings problem does nothing to change the situation. It is therefore incumbent upon us to look toward finding a solution. Based on how divided we are and how many tragic shootings happen almost daily in this country, this seems to be a difficult undertaking.
Drugs -
It is easy for some ignorant know-it-alls to use flawed reasoning and jump to the unsubstantiated conclusion that since some mass shooters were on psychiatric drugs, it was therefore the psychiatric drugs that caused the shooters to commit mass murders.
Studies show that 1 out of 6 people in America are on psychiatric drugs. If it is as some conclude, that psychiatric drugs cause shooters to commit mass murders, then we should have over 50 million mass murderers in this country.
It needs to be recognized that tolerance to psychiatric drugs levels varies greatly in different people and maybe even different sex, because only 3 females were involved in mass shootings between 1982 and 2017.
Instead of looking to find reasons to show that psychiatric drugs cause shooters to commit mass murders, perhaps we should look to the strong possibility that the psychiatric drugs being used to treat them were not effective and did nothing to help with their disorders.
There are many instances where someone responds quite positively and yet that effect is not generalized to other patients. Many patients on the most prescribed drug class, antidepressants see an inadequate or absent positive response to them. It needs to be recognized that some psychiatric drugs may have a better track record, and some have an even worse one. While some may have no effect at all on the conditions of mass shooters.
The ineffectiveness of psychiatric drugs may be the culprit that triggers shooters in mass killings, it can easily be that psychiatric drugs are not working on some to prevent them from doing evil.
Media -
In the days of old, there were such newscasters and good old Walter Cronkite, "the most trusted man in America," where we would get a 30-minute fill of the news in the evening and wait until the next morning for the paper.
And then Ted Turner came along with his Cable News Network, suddenly television screens were alive with 24-hours of news and news people needed no longer fill one half-hour news slot, they now needed desperately to fill 48 of those time slots during every day. Then other networks joined the cycle with each one trying to outdo the other to capture a larger audience.
In this vicious cycle, overblown stories were destined to rule the roost to take control and have authority over a trouble persons mind. By showing 24-hours, or more, continuous coverage of every mass shooting, making the world of overblown news a realistic one, indeed for some people to see the action as normal in life..
So, while the power keg was already there with the psychiatric drugs not working, the media now lite the fuse. The media has shown them what is done and how it is done, So what do they go looking for, or already have?
Guns -
The recent shooting at the high school in parkland , Florida, has provoked renewed calls for more gun control laws. Politicians, activists, and journalists are once again calling for a ban on assault weapons. These individual either do not acknowledge the fact the these weapons are seldom used to commit violent crimes. FBI reports shows that rifles of this nature are almost never used to commit violent crimes and accounted for just 3 percent of firearm homicides in a recent year. In this nation of waning ethics and declining morals, stricter gun laws are not the answer and will not eliminate unjust deaths.
Task -
There is no need for us to agree on what causes a mass shooting ---we do need to agree is that we want the mass shooting problem solved. We dont need to have a solution to the problem we must put our best minds to the daunting task of solving it.
About the Author: Farmbillie is an independent, free spirited individual with an unrestrained personality filled with honor and integrity. A person who believes in America and is unafraid to defend his way of life, family, property, beliefs while freely speaking his mind. Farmbillie@mail.com