U.S. Mass Shootings in 2019

Introduction Mass shootings in America have become more prevalent than ever before.  Depending on how one defines “mass shooting” the number of mass shooting incidents in America this year alone could range anywhere from half a dozen to more than 200.  Even at the strictest definition of mass shooting half a dozen is too many.  Last week, two mass shootings occurred back-to-back on different sides of the country—one in El Paso, TX, where 22 died, and one in Dayton, Oh, where 9 died.  As the nation becomes, to a degree, desensitized to the violence year after year, whether it is the Parkland shooting or the Virginia Beach shooting, the Orlando shooting or the Vegas shooting, one still wonders what can be done to address this issue.  Some believe stricter gun laws are needed.  Others believe it is a mental health issue.  This paper will discuss both, define the term mass shooting, describe the two most recent mass shootings in the U.S., examine the statistics and identify some possible ways to prevent shootings of this nature from occurring in the future.

What is a Mass Shooting? While there is no standard definition of “mass shooting” the term is widely acknowledged to include any type of shooting in which there are multiple victims of firearm related violence.  However, the U.S.

Congressional Research Service has defined the term as including any public mass shooting wherein the shooter targets four or more people at random and kills them (Bagalman, Caldwell, Finklea & McCallion, 2013).  This definition aligns with the FBI’s definition of mass murder (Morton, 2010).  As Evon (2019) observes, “according to the FBI, the term ‘mass murder’ has been defined generally as a multiple homicide incident in which four or more victims are murdered, within one event, and in one or more locations in close geographical proximity.”  This definition is typically used when referencing mass shootings; however, it is by no means a standard definition and most mass shootings that receive media attention involve at least a several dead or wounded.

El Paso and Ohio In El Paso, Texas, 21 year old Patrick Crusius opened fire using an assault rifle in a shopping mall parking lot before entering a Walmart and shooting more victims there.  He killed 22 people in all and wounded dozens more (Blankstein & Burke, 2019).  The shooting was described as an act of hatred towards Mexican immigrants, though the shooting was completely random and did not target Mexicans specifically.  Three Mexican citizens were killed in the rampage in El Paso, which is a border town, and that was all—the rest were Americans (Blankstein & Burke, 2019).  The shooter left behind a manifesto that analysts have stated was inspired by some of the rhetoric of President Trump and his views on illegal immigration.  Crusius had driven more than 600 miles from his Dallas suburb to open fire in El Paso.  He surrendered to police after leaving the scene in his car and stopping on the highway upon seeing a motorcycle police officer.  Crusius exited his car, arms up, confessed and surrendered immediately (Pasquini & Hanlon, 2019).

Crusius had apparently already published “a four-page manifesto filled with racist language and hatred for immigrants on 4chan and 8chan forums” that explained his reasons for wanting to kill (Chastain, 2019).  In the manifesto, the following words appeared:  “In general, I support the Christchurch shooter and his manifesto. This attack is a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas. They are the instigators, not me.

I am simply defending my country from cultural and ethnic replacement brought on by an invasion” (Chastain, 2019).  Crusius’s identification with the Christchurch, New Zealand mass shooting, in which the shooter targeted Muslims, indicates that the motivation for the El Paso shooter was racially-driven.

Beyond his desire to stop the supposed scourge of immigration into the U.S., Crusius most likely had anti-social disorder.  He was described by people who knew him as being “standoffish” and “an extreme loner, who always sat alone on the bus in junior high and high school” and always “spoke negatively of other kids who played sports or joined the school band” (Chastain, 2019).  From the reports made by his schoolmates and information about his family history (a broken family, a father with substance abuse issues, and a mother with abandonment issues), it appears that Crusius likely suffered from mental health problems (Chastain, 2019) The shooter in Dayton, Ohio, was the opposite.  Instead of having a manifesto based on right-wing views, his views were radical left-wing views:  24 year old Connor Betts posted pro-Antifa messages on his Twitter account, supported Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, and wrote on his profile page, “I’m going to hell and I’m not coming back” (Durden, 2019).  Betts attacked a popular night club section of Dayton’s Oregon District at 1 a.m.

using an AR-15-style assault rifle and a 100-round drum magazine (De La Garza & Zennie, 2019).  The shooter apparently targeted his sister at the shooting as she was the first to be shot and killed.

Betts then stepped out of the alley from which he was firing and proceeded on foot.  Half a dozen officers at the scene ran towards the gunfire, returning fire.  Within 30 seconds of Betts’ first shots sounding off, he had been killed by police—but had already managed to kill 9 and wound a dozen more (De La Garza & Zennie, 2019).  Instead of race being a motivation as it seems to have been for the El Paso shooter, Betts’ motivation appears simply to have been born of an anti-social hatred for others in general—starting right with his own family.

Betts had self-diagnosed himself as being bi-polar and suffering from an obsessive-compulsive disorder, according to some who knew him (Woods, 2019).  According to a former girlfriend of his, Betts had wanted to get better but was afraid of having to deal with the stigma of mental disorder.  She claimed Betts was not motivated by anything but rather was acting out of an uncontrollable impulse that resulted from his mental health issues, which sometimes caused him to want to lash out at others and cause harm (Woods, 2019).

Statistics Under the definition that a mass shooting is a shooting incident in which four or more people are shot, the U.S.

had 251 mass shootings in the U.S in the first 216 days of the year 2019.  However, because definitions of mass shooting differ, this statistic varies according to how the variable is defined.  The mass shootings that stand out for most people are ones in which several people are killed or injured—events like the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, the Las Vegas music festival shooting, the Aurora, Colorado movie theater shooting, or the Orlando night club shooting.   Being shot and being killed, though, is a significant difference, and according to Mother Jones, which tracks mass shootings that are defined as four or more people killed and not related to conventional crimes (such as robberies), there have been only seven mass shootings in the U.S.

in 2019 (Evon, 2019).  The El Paso and the Dayton shootings are the latest.   So far in 2019, 246 people have died from mass shootings and 979 have been wounded.  That means there have been 1,325 victims of mass shootings just this year alone—and it is only August (Mass Shootings in 2019, 2019).  At this rate, there could end up being over 2,000 victims of mass shootings for the total year and more than 400 dead.  If anything these statistics show that mass shootings have become far too common for the good of the nation.

Prevention When it comes to preventing mass shootings, there are typically two options that are covered:  one is gun confiscation, and the other is improving the mental health of young persons.  In terms of gun confiscation, the possibilities include developing stricter gun laws and banning assault rifles.  In terms of addressing mental health issues, the possibilities are bit more complex:  until an individual comes forward for help, there is little that mental health experts can do, and it is often the case that the family dynamic is not such that it facilitates the proper mental health care needed in such circumstances.  Betts’ family apparently saw nothing wrong with his gun obsession or with his attitudes towards others—or else they simply did not notice.  If they did not notice, it indicates that there were family issues in his life as well, which can also lead to mental health problems for sensitive youths.

Then there is the problem of treating mental health illness.  In most cases, selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are prescribed to help control the patient’s mood swings.  The problem with these is that the side effects can be wildly unpredictable, particularly if the patient suddenly halts the medication without assistance from a health care professional (Kauffman, 2019).  It is unclear as of yet whether the El Paso shooter or the Dayton shooter were on, using or had been prescribed SSRIs, but in many cases of mass shootings these drugs are a variable to consider.  As Kauffman (2019) notes, the risks attendant with these drugs may mean that a better approach to addressing the issue of mental health is needed.  Drugging youths acts merely as a band-aid that can be ripped off at any time, and the scream of pain that follows can impact many several others.

More restrictive gun laws are also unlikely to sit well with many.  In England, guns are totally banned yet violent attacks still occur—whether they are knife attacks or bus or car attacks (running pedestrians over on the street).  No matter what the method of choice is, people who want to hurt and kill others will find a way to do it.  Gun laws, it is argued, will prevent those who should not have access to guns—such as those with mental health issues—from obtaining them.  This argument is a weak one as well, however, because guns can always be obtained illegally, which is actually how many guns are obtained when used in this sort of situation, and doing background checks on mental health is only going to reveal anything if the individual has actually been diagnosed with mental health issues.  In many cases, individuals never receive the help they need, which appears to have been the case with Betts.  Thus, if never diagnosed, any background check conducted to see if the individual is fit to own weapons would produce nothing discriminating.

Given America’s own national history it is unlikely.