Why mass shootings have become more and more frequent

Public mass shootings have become much more frequent in the US as well as being displayed on the media. Furthermore, they are becoming deadlier, claiming more lives per shooting as well their frequency becoming alarmingly high.

This is due to a variety of factors that have influenced the shooters to commit these acts as well as for more shooters to replicate ‘copycat’ shootings. The Columbine High School shooting paved the way for the rise of mass murderers, setting the formula for school shootings.

From there on, many others have committed similar acts in schools such as the Sandy Hook shooting and Virginia Tech shooting. This formula has also applied in other settings not involving schools such as the Colorado cinema shooting in which a shooter entered a cinema screening The Dark Knight rises and opening fire on moviegoers. One of the factors that contributed to the rise of these mass shooters would be the media attention. The media consistently reports on these events and almost glorifies the shooters which in turn leads others seeking attention to carry out shootings of their own to have their name paraded on TV.

In addition to this, there are others who sympathize with the shooters motives namely bullying. In the event of school shooters, most if not all have experienced some form of bullying which leads them to carry out these violent acts in a form of retribution against those who wronged them and society as a whole.

This is largely modelled on the Columbine shooters formula who shot up the high school as an act of revenge against bullies and society. Mental health issues are also on the rise amongst the young generation, which can further exasperate these issues, leading to the mass shootings. America needs to introduce further support for young people as well as measures aimed to preventing these acts from occurring more frequently than they already are.