"If the key gun control proposals now being considered in Congress had been law since 1999, four gunmen younger than 21 would have been blocked from legally buying the rifles they used in mass shootings. At least four other assailants would have been subject to a required background check, instead of slipping through a loophole. Ten might have … [Read more...]
The Mass Shootings Where Stricter Gun Laws Might Have Made a Difference
Young men, guns and the prefrontal cortex
"Peterson is a criminologist who studies the life histories of mass shooters, and when she has gone back decades later to interview perpetrators who committed an attack in their teens or early 20s, “they don’t even recognize the person that did that.” She said the perpetrators describe feeling “disconnected” from their murderous earlier … [Read more...]
What drives mass shooters? Grievance, despair, and anger are more likely triggers than mental illness, experts say.
"Forensic psychologist Jillian Peterson, cofounder of The Violence Project, a think tank dedicated to reducing violence, said mass shooters are typically younger men, channeling their pain and anger through acts of violence and aggression. For many mass shooters, Peterson said, their path to violence begins with early childhood trauma. They often … [Read more...]
A Disturbing New Pattern in Mass Shootings: Young Assailants
"Six of the nine deadliest mass shootings in the United States since 2018 were by people who were 21 or younger, representing a shift for mass casualty shootings, which before 2000 were most often initiated by men in their mid-20s, 30s and 40s. “We see two clusters when it comes to mass shooters, people in their 40s who commit workplace type … [Read more...]
The ‘Good Guys With Guns’ Keep Failing to Stop Mass Shootings
"Research disputes recent assertions from Cruz and others that armed law enforcement on campus is “the most effective tool for keeping kids safe.” A 2021 JAMA Network Open study analyzed every documented incident from 1980-2019 in which “one or more people was intentionally shot in a school building during the school day, or where a perpetrator … [Read more...]