by Brian T. Lynch, MSW
[The following post was re-edited on 2/24/18, mostly to shorten and improve readability]
There have been at
least seven school shootings during
school hours so far this year where children have been killed or injured. This includes 17 students recently killed in
Parkland, Florida. We can't normalize this. Mass casualty shootings are a
public health crisis.
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| ABC News |
We don't really know
much about what triggers a young person to start shooting his peers. Part of
the reason we don't know is that the shooters don't always live to tell their
story. But there are also "don't ask, don't tell" government policies
surrounding gun violence. The NRA has gotten the US Congress to block the
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the National Institute of Health (NIH)
from collecting data on gun violence or from studying the problem.
What we know is that
these mostly young male assailants are not terrorists in a formal sense.
Terrorists are motivated by politics and oppression. They commit horrible acts
against soft targets to draw attention to their views. Sometimes terrorists do act
out of vengeance while hiding behind politics or religion.
Tentative Profile of the Shooters
School shooters like
Nikolas Cruz in Parkland seem to be motivated by internal fantasies that stem
from a social pathology. They have troubled histories with symptoms of odd
behaviors and emotional disturbances that are not clearly tied to a specific underlying
mental illness. For example, they have
no brain-chemical imbalance, no obvious thought disorders or don't hear voices
telling them to do these things. As a
result, they often aren't diagnosed as "mentally ill" in a strict
clinical sense. This diagnostic ambiguity complicates their interactions with
mental health systems and the law, and parents find it difficult to get effective
help.
Instead, these loners become
increasing self-isolating. They have weak social relationship and poor social
skills. They may have a history of been shunned or bullied by peers, perhaps
because they act so differently. They can appear passive or unpredictably
aggressive. They excessively engage in solitary activities such as video games
or social media. Some come to feel powerless and insecure on many levels and
may then develop an active inner fantasy life to help them cope with their
short comings.
A percentage of these socially
troubled youth may become fascinated with military style assault weapons for
several reasons. These weapons look "cool" and powerful, like the
military hardware they see on TV and in their video games. They develop a
strong desire to own these weapons. and owning them makes them feel powerful, more
in control and perhaps more manly. By contrast, their actual cross-gender
relationships are often either absent or very dysfunctional. Once they own these
weapons their inner fantasies begin to evolve around the weapon and how they might
use them.
This probably describes
a large group of cohorts of youth. Most don't become a mass murderers. Why a
few flip is anyone's guess. Was Cruz' expulsion from school a triggering event
for him? We shall see.
In all cases, young
people who exhibits these sort of histories and behaviors are seriously in need
of help. Current mental health screening protocols, treatment methods,
treatment accessibility and mental health laws are not adequate to identify and
help this population. The efforts needed to identify and treat potential mass
shooters will take time. If we started today to study, identify and treat these
kids it might take a years to bring the present crisis under control.
Guns and Gun Culture Factors
A much faster, direct
way to curb the violence would be take these murderous military style weapons
out of the hands of civilians, and young people in particular. A key concept
here is "style", as in fashion. It isn't the technical
capability of an AR-15 that attracts these kids, but it's looks.
Gun enthusiasts will
tell you the AR-15 is semi-automatic and therefore it isn't an assault weapon.
This definition is a distinction without a difference. The design is such that a large magazine clip
and a bump stock is all it takes to turn them into fully automatic assault
weapons. Moreover, they have three times the muzzle speed of a handgun which
gives their small bore bullets more kinetic energy and much greater killing
power.
More importantly, the
perception of the AR-15 as a military style assault style weapon is very powerful.
It impacts the attitudes and behaviors of everyone who owns them and this has
an especially powerful impact on socially vulnerable youth. And as we know,
what is real in its perception is real in its consequence.
Below is a picture of
two rifles with almost identical capabilities. In both models, a bump stock and
a large capacity magazine would turn either into an assault weapon.
It is obvious from the
captions that this comparison is used by gun rights advocates, but just consider
the visual impact. The Ruger Mini looks like a regular hunting rifle. The AR-15
stands out. It looks the military grade hardware depicted in Hollywood movies
and just about every video game kids play. What child would prefer the Ruger Mini
to an AR-15?
Perceptions matter.
Perceptions alter behavior and cultural. The advertizing impact of these
weapons in games and movies is a powerful force in a developing mind. It's a
marketers paradise.
Along with there, there
is an overall militarization of our culture in recent times. Police training is
being turned over to companies that also train our solders. A government
program sells excess military equipment (initially set up in the 1990's by Dick
Cheney) to local police departments who are trained in their use. This alters the
culture of our domestic police forces and creates an "us vs. them"
militia mindset. And a growing fervency in patriotic adulation for our soldiers
and police officers, (as opposed to the due respect and appreciation they
deserve) has an impact on our children's cultural development and values. We
are all blurring the lines between military culture and a more peaceful minded
civil society.
A General Framework for Action
There are at least two
main, interdependent parts to the mass school shooting problem. One is the
increased proneness of certain children towards gun violence, and the other is
the ready availability of highly lethal assault weapons that play into their fantasies.
The first part is complex and difficult to change quickly. The second part can
change quickly but for strong political and cultural opposition. The parts are
interdependent steps take in each can have an effects on the other. For
example, changes in the prevalence of assault weapons can impact the gun
culture and how guns are perceived by children. Conversely, detection and interventions
for socially at risk children in eliminate violence incidents and improve the
overall milieu and learning environment, in schools. A healthy child in a
healthy environment is a more responsible gun owner, if they choose to own a
gun.
What can politicians do
to end these mass casualty episodes?. What can parents do to help their
children who get caught in a web of social failure?
A Public Health Emergency
The most immediate
actions we can take on the mental health side is to untie the hands of the NIH
and the CDC. Let them do their job. For too long Congress has tied our hands so
that the gun industry won't be encumbered by inconvenient truths. The NRA has blocked gun violence
research for over 20 years. Congress won't even let the CDC collect data on gun violence.
This is not acceptable.
Let our public health
institutions treat gun violence and gun deaths is a public health crisis. Give
them the funding they need bring science to bear on the issues. Make mass
shootings at our children's schools a national emergency. Set up task forces to
study the issue. Let them identify better screening protocols and intervention
strategies that can be introduced at the local level so parents have the help
they seek. Provide community based strategies to help communities prevent these
children from falling between the cracks. We need healthier social environments
in our schools and our communities. For that we need stronger national leadership.
We have a significant public health
crisis and the champions in the best position to help us with
it have been sidelined.
Gun Control and Changing Gun Culture
The quickest way to curb
mass shooting episodes by socially dysfunctional students is to simply make
ownership or possession of military style weapons illegal. These weapons are
the objects of their murderous fantasies. Take them away.
High velocity, rapid
fire weapons with large magazines are not appropriate for hunting game. They
are killing machines of war. Banning them is also a step towards reestablishing
a cultural separation between weapons of war and a more wholesome respect for guns
in a peaceful society.
Current marketing forces
are at work to make military hardware sexy and desirable to boost profits, but this
campaign has negative impacts on children who are culturally developing. The
proliferation of ultra lethal weapons, even among local law enforcement and
criminal, foster a more aggressive militancy. Nobody wants this. The Ruger Mini
14 (above) has all the same capacity and a higher muzzle velocity than the
AR-15 but it doesn't convey the same messaging. Perceptions matter especially for
the young. Maintaining a distinction in weapons of war and peace doesn't
violate a person's right to bear arms. It sets reasonable limits on that right,
as is true with every other constitutional right. It sends a cultural message.
Making all weapons less
lethal should be part of the strategy to curb mass gun violence. Bump stocks
and trigger cranks easily turn any semi-automatic weapon into a fully automatic
killing machine. Banning them should be the message our cultural heritage
conveys. And we should limit the size of a magazines capacity for semi-automatic
weapons. Comprehensive background checks, ending gun show loopholes and all the
rest of the other standard fixes that are offered after horrendous shooting
incidents are all worthy considerations as well. They convey the message that
gun ownership is a serious business and is not every member of society can be
trusted to own a gun.
