Honest question: we’ve had widely available guns in this country for hundreds of years. Why did mass school shootings only really start in the late 1990’s with Columbine? What changed to make this happen after 200 years where they mostly didn’t? I’m interested in opinions.
My own hypothesis is that Columbine unleashed a massive amount of copycats. Mentally ill people, who might not have otherwise considered the idea, saw the Columbine killers become famous and sought to replicate their notoriety and “fame.”
It’s why I don’t share any mass shooter names. Because I think the media attention and “fame” motivates this behavior to a large degree. I think the single most impactful thing any single individual can do to combat mass shootings is not to share shooter names.
There are media precedents for not naming shooters. We have rape shield laws that prevent the naming of rape victims. (This is for victims rather than the accused, but still a precedent that seems to work.) Much less seriously, sports networks won’t air people who run on fields.
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