Unstable Mental Health + Guns = Bad
Shootings have become a frequent reoccurrence only 4 months into the year 2018. Shooting of course have been occurring for quite some time. From the Sandy Hook shooting, to the most recent being the Parkland shooting, these events have resulted in the tragic loss of innocent souls.
Most, if not all think these shootings root from a strong link between mental illness and mass shootings. After these tragic events happen, all try to understand the motives of the killers, and why they chose to inflict the harm they did. Referring to an article by Michael Rocque, Assistant Professor of Sociology, there are specific factors that possibly could contribute to these shootings.
Access to firearms starts this list off, which with complete honesty makes sense. Having access to something that threw a fit of rage take a humans life fully contributes to this disturbing events. Second on the list is damaged masculinity. Mostly all shooters throughout time have been men their research has come to show that a possible threat to their ego/identity, a.k.a. their masculinity is tied to aggression and dominance. The media takes third on the list, ever since the 1990's media has been blamed for the influencing of potential shooters. But, research tied to mass shootings is not conclusive. To conclude the list is, mental illness, perhaps the strongest piece of evidence related shootings to this day. Studies have shown shooters suffer three times the rate of the general population. Keeping in mind these are possibilities, not concrete information/evidence.
What actually diagnosis someone as clinically mentally ill? Mental illness consists of a “wide range of mental health conditions” according to mayoclinic.org. This disorder which affects the way a person thinks, the way they behave, and also affecting their mood. Shooters have been claimed as mentally ill, Nikolas Cruz being a prime example. But looking into it there were definite signs of danger emitting from the life of Cruz. Referring back to the causes of mass shootings, he did have access to firearms, also posting on social media showcasing the dangerous amount of weapons a high school student had access to. There is evidence, in the form of a video, of cruise doing “target practice. Many have tried befriending Cruz, one being Isabelle Robinson. Isabelle tried befriending Cruz only to have him miss treat her for no given reason. She also does not support this statement that “if his classmates have been kinder…” , which was a lot coming from a peer counselor, and also teachers assistant.
Mentally ill has become a common title, for shooters. But speaking truthfully, is it really a mental illness, or is it just impulsiveness, brutality, or fury towards everything. Is it a distraction to distract the people from the fact that gun laws are in fact not protecting anyone against firearms? Nothing is concrete in the topic of the motives of shooters, but these devastating acts of violence need to come to complete and for the sake of every human being.
In paragraph 2, you say that "having something that threw a fit of rage"--are you speaking of the gun or the person with the gun? So in the same paragraph, what's "bonded masculinity," exactly? Is it something like "toxic masculinity"? Is that definition from the sociology professor named in the paragraph above? In paragraph three I think you have an opportunity to really define (and differentiate) different types of mental illness and the behaviors/risks associated with that before you move on. Because, of course, there's significant differences between those with anxiety and those with sociopathy. That might be the mistake politicians (and some newspeople) make: they'll stick on a label of "mentally ill" without ever either clarifying what that means or, even more insidious, just using that label as an excuse for white men's violence.
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