A Personal Perspective on Mass Shootings

The recent mass shootings, especially by teenagers as the active shooters, have raised many questions.  What is going on, what are the causes, and what can be done about it are the most important questions being asked.

Various opinions are being expressed as to the core causes of the shootings.  There are too many guns out there.  The shooters are suffering from mental health problems.  And, there are not sufficient protective systems in place. How the causes get defined may ultimately determine what solutions will eventually be enacted.

These questions and issues triggered many thoughts and conclusions in me that I want to share in this essay.  I recognize that I am not an expert on mass shootings and active shooters. As such, the opinions I offer are just the result of one man’s “take” on a serious problem.  But, they are based upon reflections of my experiences and background.

Days of yesteryear

Reflecting on my own teenage years got me thinking about how things appear so different for teenagers today. I think some of these differences are some of the root causes for the gun violence being seen.

Since gun violence by teenagers is getting the most attention, I first thought about my teenage “gun culture.”  I grew up in a rural area in the 1950s. All my buddies and I got our first guns in grade school and Jr. High.

When we got our drivers’ licenses we carried our guns in our cars and pickups. You just never knew when you might run across a rabbit or deer. A quick stop and you could shoot dinner. Many schools also had rifle teams and I was on my high school team.

The point here is that it was not considered unusual or dangerous for us teenagers to be walking around with guns. It was a natural part of our rural culture. We were taught to respect guns and we were taught gun safety by our fathers, by the Boy Scouts, and by our school shooting clubs and teams.

During this time period, I don’t remember any mass shootings or school shootings like we are seeing today. This is not to say there were no shootings in the news.  But I recall them usually being reported as the result of gang wars or organized crime conflicts in the big cities.

Small town life

Conflicts among students, especially by boys, were usually handled after school in the school yard.   Fist fights and wrestling matches were the usual methods. And I don’t remember anybody getting seriously hurt. The fight usually ended up by one or the other stating “I give.” Our school staff also didn’t seem to be upset over such occurrences.  Usually they let them play out.

There also didn’t seem to be a lot of “loners.” I took a look at my old high school yearbook. Graduating seniors listed their activities, and just about everybody belonged to some kind of group, sport team, and/or school club.

As I recall, it seems that all my buddies came from intact families.  What’s more, all of our parents provided discipline to all of us.

At the same time, just about everybody went to church. I think this reflected a predominate cultural acceptance of the Judeo Christian belief and ethic.  “Blue laws” closed down most businesses on Sundays. Prayers were also said in schools and at athletic events.  And the entire city near where we lived became a large public display of Christianity in stores and streets at Christmas and Easter times.

There also seemed to be basic respect and reverence for a supernatural authority that set standards for behavior. Religious, educational and secular authorities taught and expected one to have self-control over emotional urges.

I recognize that world was not perfect.  My experiences are but my reflections on what I recall society, as a whole, seemed to expect and demand at that time.

Flash forward to today

Much has obviously changed since the 1950s.  There are many differences between yesterday and today.  There are also many differences between big cities and small town, rural settings.

One major difference is in the demographics of who the shooter is.  In the past, most active shooters were in their mid-20s to 40s. But mass shootings, especially school shootings have been on the rise for the last several decades with a disturbing trend. Teenagers are committing more and more of them.

Between 1999 and 2018, 66% of all school shootings were committed by boys under 18 with a median age of 16. Mass shootings, however, are generally accepted as an event where four or more persons are killed. Using this criterion, from 2000 to 2015, 46.7 % were committed by boys under 18. Since 2018, 66% were committed by boys 21 or younger.  These trends are not very encouraging.

All kinds of questions get raised about what is it about the offenders that cause them to do such heinous acts.

Commonalities among shooters

Much media attention has been given to the nature of the shooters. Common characteristics being reported are that the shooters tend to have the following traits:

• They are asocial and friendless with no meaningful connections;
• came from a dysfunctional family and/or no father in the home;
• were fascinated with violence;
• had mental health issues;
• were addicted to social media and violent video games;
• had many red flags ignored by everyone.

The end result, in my opinion, is that they were desensitized to violence.  They were living in a fantasy world where they had to prove themselves with a sense of power through violent means.

Cultural differences and influences

There is a cultural and social context that can lay a framework for those traits to emerge in both adults and teenagers.  Nurture (environment) has a serious impact on youth.

In addition to the experiences of my teenage years, I have other experiences that allow further comparisons. I spent many years from the 1970s – 2000s working in law enforcement, in schools and in community service settings to prevent juvenile delinquency and drug abuse. There are also school teachers in my family and among our family friends. We have all observed and noted many changes in our culture over the years that, I think, are major influences on those active shooter traits. They parallel what many surveys and studies have found over the past few decades.

• There has been a disintegration of families and family influence with higher divorce rates.
• More children are being born into single parent households that do not have fathers in the home.
• The advent of social media has led to an increase in personal isolation and less participation in clubs and social groups.
• Violence is glorified by the media and the entertainment industry and in the video and computer games that youth participate in. Violence has been normalized.
• The secular world teaches and permits unlimited freedom of choice with less social constraints to support self-control urges.
• Fewer people go to church and religion and religious values are devalued in the culture at large. There is less influence of religion and religious values.

The bottom line is that our youth are growing up in an increasingly Godless culture.  There are fewer and fewer social and family influences on behavior and impulse control.

Implications for active shooter and mass shooter solutions

Almost all the media and political attention has been given to gun control laws as the solution. While certain controls to gun access may help, in my opinion, they will not make a significant difference. There are many guns already out there already (one estimate is 1.5 guns per person).  There are also too many (youth especially) who fit the trait profile and have access to guns.  It’s like closing the barn door after the horse has escaped.

Other measures that can deal directly with the causes mentioned above need attention. Well thought out and carefully constructed “Red flag” approaches to initiate preventive measures would require a process of identifying such individuals beforehand. It would involve setting up surveillance, monitoring and reporting systems. At the same time, such efforts would require due process safeguards for law abiding gun owning citizens. It would mean coordinating with families, mental health professionals and law enforcement – not an easy task. However, I think it is one that deserves attention and resources.

Changing cultural influences is the biggest challenge. How do you influence changes supporting in-tact families or the changing of video gaming content or access to certain sites on social media?

There are some things we can personally do. We can influence the culture to support intact families by pushing lawmakers for family-friendly laws. We can support YMCA and other social organizations that have family programs. And we can stand up and speak out against violent social media and video platforms, encouraging lawmakers to take legislative actions to control them.

But of all the cultural influences that can help us turn the corner, the ultimate solution is turning back to God. Living a faith-based life can fix all the traits mentioned. This makes  evangelizing and supporting Church family ministries an even greater priority.

The target hardening solution

In the meantime, there is an immediate and common sense solution given these circumstances that can provide a decent measure of protection from future school shootings. It is called “target hardening” which I have had experience with. Such a system involves several components:

• Controlled access to a school building – one entrance,
• Staff and student “Active Shooter” training
• Metal detectors
• Video surveillance of a building and grounds,
• A suspicious person reporting system
• An armed “sentinel” at the one main entrance as a visible deterrent.

That “sentinel” could be a police school liaison officer, paid security guard, or trained volunteers. Given the costs involved, using volunteers who were prior military or law enforcement and who have a state concealed handgun license is an option. They would, of course, need to undergo background screening and training. Just as retirees serve as crosswalk guards, so those with the appropriate background could serve as school building guards.

It’s a sad state of affairs that these kinds of safety measures are needed.  Confining school children  in such a restricted learning environment is also far from ideal. However, if the goal is to prevent future shootings as soon as possible, target hardening is worth consideration.

A final thought

If ever there was a message that our culture needs fixing, mass shootings serves us notice. While there is not a quick and easy fix, the place to start is a renewed trust in God, a renewed following of his commandments to love God and neighbor and a renewed evangelization that can eventually influence the culture.

“Do not conform yourself to this age, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good
and pleasing and perfect”[ Romans 12:2].