Why does America have so many shootings?

Question

nightdrot · Accepted Answer

It has been well said that Americans prefer the tyranny of the streets to the tyranny of the government. Compared to most Western societies, the law rests lightly on the population and its restraints are minimal. The net result being a society where freedom is at a premium and where the habits of self-restraint and self-control tend to be discounted.

Thus crime in all its forms tends to be more elevated. The passions of the moment will tend to dominate and the culture will, on balance, tend to accept a greater degree of individual autonomy - and with it the potentiality of crime and other forms of social mayhem..

However, a certain amount of perspective is in order. First,, "America has so many shootings" compared to where? Yemen? Iraq? Syria? By that standard the United States is positively tranquil. Crime there is, but it is comparatively retail as opposed to the wholesale chaos that exists in societies where conflict is elemental and reflects a total lack of cultural consensus. There is no breaking of the rule of law because there is no law to break.

Also, in terms of the United States itself, the number of murders and such will tend to vary over time. The 1950s, for example, were a period of extraordinarily low crime. The society had endured two generations of mayhem and bloodshed. Two world wars, the Korean War and the Great Depression. Even the 1920s, a period of peace and prosperity, were relatively chaotic and an ethos of "eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow you may die" permeated a culture that had been horrified by the mass slaughter that was World War I, followed by a sever, if brief, economic depression and a pandemic worse than the current one.

The society by the end of the Korean War was exhausted and this manifested itself not just in a period of comparative social peace and prosperity, but a degree of conformity that conduced to, by American standards, remarkably low levels - by American historic standards - of crime. A society that had known chaos, poverty and bloodshed on a massive scale both imposed law and order more effectively, it literally was less inclined to crime and bloodshed.

Of course, as the 1950s generation came of age and the safety and security of the 1950s came to take it for granted, resistance to social conformity and stability began to rise. The jibe was all that President Eisenhower delivered was peace and prosperity and that was boring. Thus was born the upheavals of the 1960s and 70s.

Then, as night follows day, as the weight of law and social and cultural pressure on individual conduct began to lighten, crime and disorder began to rise again. Indeed, the argument for much of the 60s and 70s was not that the criminal should be punished but that he was as much a victim of society as his victims.

Thus, the emphasis in law began to switch from enforcement and punishment to rehabilitation and tackling what were thought to be the "root causes of crime," i. e. poverty, abuse, corruption, etc. In due course crime began to rise again, until a 1977 Gallup poll found that 74% of all women - all ages, races, religion, income levels. etc, - reported that they did not feel safe walking alone in their neighborhoods at night. Backlash to follow with, beginning in the 1980s, a renewed emphasis on law and order such that, by the late 1990s, crime - all crime - fell to levels not seen since the 1950s.

CONT.

BeMuse · Accepted Answer

Communists (Democrats) want to strip American’s of our right to keep and bear arms. As a strategy they stage shootings to pressure public opinion so that they can justify passing legislation to strip power from the people. You can invade a nation of people that are armed to the teeth around every corner…

Most communist invasions of countries follow a similar pattern. 1) First they demoralize people through subversion. This is all the kneeling in the NFL/NBA stuff, trannies in beauty pageants and women’s sports, spread of racism by BLM riots, SJW propaganda in film, lies in the media, etc. These things attack the traditions and moral foundation of a country. 2) Second, they destabilize institutions. This would be things like buying district attorneys into power that refuse to prosecute rioters, election rigging, buying corrupt politicians that right legislation to strip a country of it’s wealth, and staging shooting to strip constitutional rights from people (right to keep and bear arms/freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures). 3) Third, they stage open conflict (civil war). During this period, the communist will arm their guerrilla forces with automatic rifles, body armor, technicals, etc. and send them into the country side to mass murder the population and pacify them. 4) Last, the communists intervene in the name of stabilization and invade the nation and kill off all their guerrilla fighters they originally armed and used like pawns to take the country by force so that they have no challengers.

In America communists are fighting a war of information against Americans to brainwash them into giving away their freedom, so that they can unleash mass murders on the population. Your average Democrat is too uneducated and stupid to process what they are participating in, and don’t realize that they are killed if their side wins. Luckily, there are more guns in America than Americans and we will not give them up without a gun fight. Thus, communists can’t proceed to step 3. That doesn’t mean they won’t still keep trying to change the laws, but at the end of the day, federal government is representative, and if we don’t want it to represent us, then we tell them to go fuck themselves. If you gain office via election rigging and pass laws that violate the constitution, then you lose all credibility and your laws are not representative of the population. Thus you have no power.

chevymcgthatsme · Accepted Answer

Maybe iam thinking its jst like that over there and dark skinned people and white people are mostly against each other over America to it's terrible because of tht issue watch American history x nd it will let u know why it's mostly white and dark skinned fighting each side it's a riot wae all tht

BlacklightShade · Accepted Answer

The NRA and gun lobbies pay politicians to regulate assault weapon sales.

Less than 20 states require gun sellers to conduct some sort of background check on prospective firearm buyers.

States in white don't require any background checks for gun purchases

from being regulated.

razelove · Answer

There's easy access to guns, poor access to mental health, police can't do their jobs, tons of drugs, and our education is thankfully just shitty enough that most of us fail terribly at making bombs.(thank god)

It probably doesn't help that mass shooters get so much attention in the media, so people who may have just killed themselves see a sick path to fame and fortune in their mediocre to pathetic lives. They do tend to happen all clustered up like.

Most murders are over "personal disputes" though. Mostly one partner in a relationship killing the other. It's tough to blame guns for that one, why not get a divorce? What would make murder seem the best idea to have, and how much difference would the presence or absence of a gun make, especially when suicide is the end result for half of the gun violence deaths.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4211925/

According to that paper though, it's mostly the drugs that make it easy to get into the violence. We do consume so many drugs that Mexico, Central and South America can't keep up with the demand, Europe, China, and the Middle East have to chip in their part to keep us nice and loaded too. Drug abuse and suicide have gone up dramatically since COVID hit, and the Americas have the highest murder rate beforehand. How many of those stimulus checks went for weighty plastic bags? If they bought in bulk, maybe even paper!

We'll get some new red flag laws or something, more people will kill themselves, their spouses and families with rusty spoons while on meth, and never ask WHY we feel such an enormous demand for drugs to begin with. Incarceration sure as hell isn't working, we have more incarcerated people then any other country.

OlderAndWiser · Answer

Or school system is afraid to respond to bullying and the MSM gives fame to shooters, and the results are obvious.

WhiteSteve · Answer

Our population is clearly very unhappy and in emotional pain, and too many people are hardos about it and like to pretend we don’t operate off of our feelings most of the time, whether we realize/admit it or not. It’s not easy to get by here, and maybe the ceiling and even the floor are higher than some other places, but Americans get so triggered at any suggestion that everything about this place isn’t awesome. We’re very lazy thinkers here and we like to blame anyone who struggles 100% for their own problems, and that’s honestly just cold-blooded for a place that supposedly calls itself civilized society. There’s too much criminal schadenfreude, too much “HA! Have fun in prison, asshole!”, instead of wondering where we went wrong in creating a positive environment for these people to thrive in. Most “criminals” aren’t coming out of Candyland. We create a socioeconomic climate where many people just can’t make it, and we fault them for not doing so, and we wonder why people become desperate, and once you’re desperate, you can start to lose sight of your own humanity. But I’d wager 99.9% of “criminals” aren’t clinical psychopaths, they’re emotionally broken people who we collectively turned our backs on long before they started committing crimes. We are disgustingly un-empathetic in this country.

Levin · Answer

It's a very damaged society, with a lot of very damaged people.

Education systems are not really designed to educate people, or free them from their own psychological dysfunction. The education system is really designed to keep people ignorant and thinking within the system. It's more a brainwashing exercise, rather than anything. Psychologically damaged people are just an inconvenience to society. Psychological abuse, fucked up social systems, a lack of parental care. Well, it's no wonder people end up fucked up. Not to negate the personal responsibility of course. There's a pressure cooker of mental health issues, not to mention many people are deemed to be worthless or disposable, especially if they're low on the socio-economic rung of the ladder. They themselves believe they are worthless. Such self-loathing naturally creates people that are resentful. If you despise your own existence, there's no reason you should value anyone else's. And it's compounded by as I say, resentment and jealousy of the 'haves'.

ChiTown33 · Answer

Let me start off by saying anyone who goes on a killing spree is f***ed in the head. Normal people don't do rhat. So i'm not excusing rhe behaviour. I'm merely going to suggest how a broken human being CAN be pushed over the edge.
America is the epitomy of capitalism. If you don't wear the right shoes, have the right wardrobe, have the right friends, have the right job, make the right income, live in the right neighborhood have the right house and the right car etc. You are JUDGED and judged harshly. You could have a medical condition that you were born with. America says " we have rh2e best healthcare system in the world figure it out" life doesn't stop and the weak fall by the wayside.
Now just from what i mentioned you could understand how exhausting just living in such a society is. Imagine how it is to someone who always finds themselves on the losing side if the coin. Or someone who is mentally ill. They're stunted from living a normal life to begin with from no fault if rheir own. Yet the expected to perform and produce like everybody else.

ChrisMaster69 · Answer

Over x number of years, the number of times I have had an American friend go on about some situation where he wishes he was carrying.

where these home attacks, terrorism, gang warfare, nope, the following are an example.

being cut up on highway by another road user.
someone pushing them in a queue.
being bad mouthed by someone in the street.
losing a parking space
Restaurant failing to book a table.

Now, by and large these were not 100% serious, however with some there was a background of anger.

these are pretty stable people and intelligent.

put that down a level on stability and intelligence...

throw in drugs, alcohol... yes there is a high rate of suicides by firearms, however there are still 20,000 deaths by firearms that were not suicides..

that’s Twenty Thousand men women and children..

and it’s expected to get worse with polarising of American politics and ethnicity..

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/gun-violence-us-shooting-deaths-b1821807.html
.

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2021/03/24/980838151/gun-violence-deaths-how-the-u-s-compares-to-the-rest-of-the-world?t=1616661070209

InsanityIncarnate · Answer

Most people lack the specific organ to be a responsible gun owner. One is a brain. The rest is training. For example.. proper target acquisition. This means that you can't be a dumb shit. Unfortunately we allow the sale of firearms to the above. 2 trigger discipline.. that means keep you bugger finger out of the trigger guard until you have designated your proper target. 3 Know what is behind your target up to but not limited to the range of your firearm because some bullets will travel through said target and keep on going until it hits something that will stop it or inertia stops. 4. What is around your target.. pavement and rocks can and will redirect your expended ordinances what ever way seems plausible at the time. It is not always a good thing. I am a responsible gun owner and operator. I don't shoot at any thing I dont want destroyed or killed. You can't reset life no matter how hard you try. What is done is done. The kids these days don't realize this. The have not had the proper training. Sorry you all C. O. D is not proper training. That is how proper training is taught one way. The other is hunters safety. Well the 3rd is god given... Brains people... they are not zombie snack food. Well in some cases probably. But I digress. Finally intelligence is key for proper firearms training. No I am not military or police. But I will stand with them because they are family and friends.

NetSapien · Answer

To give you some perspective, based on the 2016 University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation’s study regarding the number of gun-related deaths worldwide published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

the U. S.:
- ranks 20th in gun related deaths per capita
- ranks 30th in gun related homicides
- ranks 2nd in gun related suicides (6.4 per 100,000 deaths).

This study was based on data from 1990 to 2016 of gun related deaths in 195 nations and territories of which 64 percent of deaths were determined to be homicides, while an additional 27 percent were suicides and 9 percent were accidental.

Now, It seems like we do because of our own media blowing each incident out of proportions and the many ignorant individuals that eat it up while the politicians weaponize these unfortunate incidents for political gain. You would think that they would instead focus on the mental health issues this country's suffering through that seem to be compounded by the high quantities of drugs prescribed to them, but this doesn't generate the comparable 'outrage' that rampant shootings do to make money that find their way donated into political campaigns.

NyceGuyFinishingLast · Answer

Honestly I feel like it is a government conspiracy to envoke gun laws to control what the public can have access to. I know everyone thinks conspiracy but really think about the last mass shootings or attempts. Spas and grocery stores have become mass shooters picks for inflicting damage? No motives have been made clear and the spa shooting was claimed because he was blaming Asian women for his sexual addiction. The last foiled attempt, the guy came into the store, went to the bathroom and had to load his weapons. What sense does that make? Why not come in, already loaded and ready to go? What would have been the benefit of the risk, bringing in a bag full of guns walking into a restroom to get set up with the possiblity of getting caught, which is what happened to him. That screams conspiracy, person brings in multiple firearms with the intent but no one gets shot and that still gives reason needed for the stupid government to push gun control. CONSPIRACY.

AlexanderAnttila · Answer

I wouldn't be so quick as to say "so many shootings", purely because it is the media who play the role of where our attention lies. They can blow any issue out of proportion by giving it enormous screen time whilst not putting it in its proper context. It's easy to front three our four reportings on shootings and then be under the impression nothing but shootings occur. Now I'm not saying this is definitely so; but as a general principle you should look up statistics first, because chances are that on the whole in the US, where over 300 million people reside, not a whole lot of shootings take place.

andreasderjuengere · Answer

'American' culture encourages/tolerates aggressive behaviour.
(It's propagated with action-heroes, action-movies, and a general attitude of favouring dominance - as well as glorifying military-like attributes)
Accessibility to firearms does play one role here as well - but isn't the driving force.
The possibility of 'shootings' is generated by a general unwillingness to do something about it, because someone's 'golden cow' will be involved in this.

It is as it is:
Indians will spam or creep.
Americans will shoot.

Feelicks · Answer

Well let's see, no free access to mental health services. Humiliating and ineffective social welfare. The promise of the American dream, and a social contract that's been breaking down since the 1970s.

Could be that. It's weird though that all these are happening so much more frequently when there's a democrat in office with a disarmament agenda. I wonder if they're intentionally giving high risk offenders a little push.

Fact is though, that if readily available guns are part of the society, things like this are going to happen. The fact that it's more common just reflects on the shitty times in general, as these are usually supposed to be suicides by cop.

glock33sig357 · Answer

Because they cater to one demographic to buy guns legally and in surplus sometimes without a thorough background check or proper gun training and dump illegal guns & drugs in the neighborhood of another demographic in order to entrap them to feed the prison pipelines for profit. They pride themselves in the right to bare arms for Caucasians no matter their political point of view, affiliation to a domestic terrorist groups or mental competency while other members of the population can't gain access to own legal firearms as easily as the Caucasians.

007kingifrit · Answer

it doesn't. adjusted for population size america has less (i assume you mean mass) shootings than other western nations

U. S ranks 11th in mass shootings and 12th in frequency of mass shootings among western countries once you adjust for population size https://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/sorry-despite-gun-control-advocates-claims-u-s-isnt-the-worst-country-for-mass-shootings/

the real problem is media coverage. america has vastly more media coverage than does other countries and this leads to copycat crimes (media contagion effect) and the media also picks when to make narratives real and when to report

TwoToTooTutu2 · Answer

My theory is that crime is ingrained in American (both North and South) culture. Our founding fathers were the children of pirate, criminals, and corrupt politicians. It was common for European powers to extradite criminals to the New World, and for local governors to be corrupt. The land was huge and nearly impossible to police. It was essentially lawless for a huge portion of history, and the vast riches attracted all types of pirates, criminals, smugglers, and the like. The Sons of Liberty was basically an underground crime syndicat and held many of the United State's founding fathers.

As for the history of the Spanish Colonies, I would suggest this video:

Daniela1982 · Answer

Because people don't know how to be nice to each other and sometimes you just piss the wrong person off. I actually think that, while not using guns, there are more crimes in the UK if you can believe the "Caught on Cam" TV show using all the CCTV cams all throughout cities like London.

jsincal · Answer

Not saying guns are bad, I'm a gun lover, Been shooting since I was 7 years old. I love to target practice and I do admire it as a feat of engineering.

To answer, it's because, these humans are Neanderthal who have access to guns but only know how to communicate with violence, not words... we homo-sapiens still need to advance and let these people weed themselves out of the gene pool.

InfobotLives · Answer

Mental illness, a lack of intervention and a lot of guns. There is clearly some correlation between gun availability and gun crime. That is not to say that there is causation. You could give me a gun and I'm not going to kill anybody with it, with the possibly exception of myself by being a clutz.

Snakeyes7 · Answer

Last I checked, two thirds of gun deaths are suicides and most of the the shootings take place in major cities where, ironically, have the strictest gun control laws.

I think the shootings in Atlanta and Boulder are a lot rarer than people realize.

WindAtMyBack · Answer

Contrary to what a lot of people think the US doesn't really have that high of a murder rate. They are actually below average. Plus, most of the murders take place in very small areas of the country, within certain demographics, or involve drugs and alcohol. If you avoid those things the chances of getting murder is extremely low.

The US media and politicians blow everything out of proportion.

JDavid25 · Answer

If you actually think about it.. They are pretty rare outside of Gang violence.. The media hypes the shootings up to 1000 even though in mass shootings happen all the time.. Of course in a pro-gun country there will be more reporting on shootings, as opposed to bombs, or the like..

Dargil · Answer

Because we have Liberty. We also have the insane who are not watched closely enough. We also have extremists who plan and keep their heads down like the radical Muslim Saracen (not a Trump supporting White supremacist) in Boulder. Presently, we have an angry' divided population and some are losing their sense of direction. More of this is coming.

Meldrum · Answer

Because the National Rifle Association has spent billions of gun owner dollars sent to them to fight against any gun laws that make sense. The NRA also gets paid by the gun manufacturers to lobby against sane gun laws. Because of those two factors, we will continue to see wackos get their hands on assault rifles with a max-capacity magazine of ammo.

Anonymous · Answer

Their rate of violent assaults initiated is about the same as other large countries and typical metropolitan areas. But their homicide rate is much, much higher, due to their high gun ownership and beliefs about gun rights. They take it all the way back to the Constitution, but it's really just cherry-picking what they like and want to propagate.

syskey69 · Answer

Honestly per capita, it doesn't, we just have a media that hyper focuses on what sells. The gun crimes gets glorified to people who want to basically "make a bame for themselves" in the most horrific way possible. And the cycle continues. Its not guns, its the moral corruption of our culture

Hispanic-Cool-Guy · Answer

#1: The poor communities specifically Black communities are often infested with gangs and drugs which leads to gun violence literally everyday.

#2: America isn't a homogeneous society. It has people from literally every part of the world living in it, thus that often creates a disharmonous society where people don't trust each other easily, isolate themselves more which leads to frustration and mental illnesses which can lead to mass shooting of random people.

MemeSupreme · Answer

too many angry people that dont know what to do about their anger. like growing up for most of us we werent taught how to cope and handle life's struggles

Kaneki05 · Answer

i mean call me crazy but... it maybe because of guns?

KibblesBits · Answer

We're one of the only modern countries where anyone can have a gun, which would be fine, if there was any reasonable way to keep guns out of the hands of mentally unstable people.

Anonymous · Answer

other countries just murder in different ways

Hyped_up_on_coffee · Answer

A lack of focus on mental health , a bad response to bullying , and there are too many loopholes on how someone can get a gun like a gun show instead of registering for it

Alexandrubaschet08 · Answer

because is still the wild west ther

exitseven · Answer

We have a very large country with a large population. We have a culture that values freedom. People with mental illness have rights just like everyone else. They are entitled to privacy so that nobody knows about their issues until it is too late.

purplepoppy · Answer

Because they have a shit load of guns an irresponsible attitude

Jaylaa2000 · Answer

a lot of mental illness not being treated. Many mental health hospitals were shut down.

Киттйлинк · Answer

Cause it’s full of bored idiots with nothing better to do. but not everyone is is like that, there’s just a lot of those airheads.

AnimaLover_17 · Answer

Its simple. There needs to be stricter gun laws and licensing. Not just anyone should be able to own one.

Anonymous · Answer

Because anyone can own a gun... Pretty self explanatory. If anyone can own a gun then the mentally ill can also own and gun and hence you get shootings, also can't forget about the terrorist.

Sounded sarcastic but it wasn't intended to be.

jennifer_bloom · Answer

I think it’s because America has more lonely people and social outcasts who view the entire world as their enemy

menina · Answer

I guess it's because buying a gun is very easy and there are some people with mental issues who have access to them.

RationalMale · Answer

Actually the majority of our violent crime problem is African americans. 13% of our population but over 50% of homicides per FBI statistics. White Americans have a violent crime rate that fits into Europe fine.

Inexpensivefurniture · Answer

Extremely relaxed gun laws, plus a social attitude that pushes angry men to resolve their problems violently

someginger · Answer

Lots of guns and not a lot of mental health programs

RolandCuthbert · Answer

You ain't seen nothing yet. Wait until it gets warm.

sheikalana · Answer

Because is much easier to get a gun in the US than in other countries.

BrosephBrostar · Answer

Go look at where most of the shootings are actually taking place, and what kind of weapon is being used and report back to me.

tartaarsaus · Answer

Mental illnesses + large share of poverty (& subsequent lack of support and healthcare) + abundance of guns

abc3643 · Answer

Because America has so many guns and so many nutty people.

michael1469 · Answer

Cause they dont put warning labels on bullets that read standing in front of projectiles my cause injuries or death that viticms can read.

Bklynbadboy12 · Answer

Cause we need t really address mental illness everybody is calling for gun control and that won't change anything

RaijuRainBird · Answer

People here are assholes. Our economy rewards narcissits and psychpaths with higher pay.

Nalix · Answer

Pretty sure that there are several countries with more shootings per population. It just gets more attention in the US.

genericname85 · Answer

cause every hillbilly and every morbid psycho can get a gun without any hassle.

pleasestopthis · Answer

Because any psycho can buy a gun. Which makes no sense to me.

loveslongnails · Answer

Lots of crazy people. But hey, we're not #1 - Yemen is !!

zoobs94 · Answer

Because they have a lot of guns 😂😂😂. When you have it you use it for good or bad.

EyesOfGod · Answer

Because we have a mental health crisis and are one of the few countries where its legal to own many and any firearms.

jasco · Answer

Cause were very retarded. We aren't very good at handling our emotions and often not we just go with the flow

Skankhunt · Answer

Because everyone can own a gun, even those with psychological problems.

Tomtom9090 · Answer

Only free nation left with rights that protect the citizenry from the Authority. Race and Guns Divide and conquer

Why does America have so many shootings?

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