Gun Culture & Schools

"I made 'Bowling for Columbine' in the hope the school shootings would stop and that we would address the issue of how easy it is to get a gun in the United States, and tragically, those school shootings continue." ~ Michael Moore

"We live in a crazy time. Every other week, there's a school shooting. There's always some nutty thing and I've always wanted to kind of understand the crazy." ~ Richard Patrick

It horrifies all of us to hear of a school shooting, that news becomes a nightmare for all of us. It traumatizes everyone.

There's an upward trend, on average every year, there are almost 300 school shooting gun related events in America, some of these events have casualties and some do not, but all cause tremendous individual and societal trauma.

Two different societies, especially related to gun laws and restrictions in Canada and America. While there's an increase of gun violence in America, in Canada, in contrast, such gun violence in schools are rare, there has been in some years no school shootings, and less than a handful in specific years.

Why is there a difference in two similar societies?

A very simple rationale. Canada has much stricter gun control laws and much lower rates of gun ownership throughout the country.

America has a very unusual situation in their society, they have the highest number of school shootings in the world, much higher than any other country.

In America there is a high level of gun fascination which contributes historically to high levels of gun ownership across the country, with strong gun lobby groups such as the NRA and other national gun associations which reduces State and National gun laws and in turn opens the door for higher rates of gun violence in schools and in society as a whole.

Besides Canada, there are other countries that have even stricter gun control laws and much lower gun ownership rates, which inturn reduces or eliminates gun violence in schools.

Historically, in Japan, South Korea, Norway, Germany, New Zealand, and Canada there have been very few occasions of gun violence in schools due to the strictest gun control laws and extremely low gun ownership. Historically and culturally, guns are not a fascination or linked to cultural Heroes within these societies.

There's very few gun lobby associations and organizations in these countries. Such associations and organizations have limited political power and very low funding influence upon politicians in these countries.

America has a very complex gun culture with historical, societal, psychological, powerful wealthy gun lobby groups, and legal factors contributing to such rampant gun violence in schools.

Here's the recipe for a society that has the highest incidence of school shootings in the world:

Statistically, every citizen owning more than one gun is recipe for violence.

Weak gun laws and flexible background checks of individuals, and low wait times to purchase guns by civilians creates a higher chance of teenagers getting access to guns.

America's gun culture symbolizes protection, freedom, and a show of strength, and being powerful in society.

Unfortunately, many school shooters have emotional and mental health issues such as trauma, anxiety, and depression and the lack of a strong tax base to fund resources in American schools and in society may lead to such violence.

Sadly, many school shooters may have been marginalized and socially isolated through schoolyard bullying which may cause the target of the bullying to experience helplessness, depression, and revenge with easy access to guns.

Some shooters psychologically seek notoriety or So-Called attention to infamy due to the high profile societal violence in the media.

Historically, America has exposed pre-teenagers and teenagers to a full host of violent video games, and movies. Many psychologist and sociologist would suggest there's a desensitization in youngsters to violence, that may contribute to violence when they're expressing frustration, isolation, or revenge in school.

Due to the lack of gun control laws and gun safety measures in the homes, many individuals have easy access to such weapons.

In some instances there are psychological and sociological phenomenon of copycat of violent actions in which some individuals view such gun violence in schools via media inspiring others to do such violence.

Family and community dysfunctionality with lack of emotional support for the teenager, can possibly harbor feelings of resentment, isolation, alienation, and depression contributing to such violence.

In a society that has lack of gun control laws and at the same time schools are underfunded and have lack of security can be a contributing factor of violence in such buildings.

Poverty and economic inequality can be a factor for violence due to the helplessness, resentment, and anger felt by teenagers due to the socioeconomic stress, mental health anxiety, and family distress.

Sadly, when such actions happen, these individuals are acting out of despair and a sense of nihilism. Such individual stress and despair maybe expressed through such extreme violence. Due to lack of government funding to help support these individuals mental health, they may fall through the cracks.

There's usually no single cause to explain such violence in schools. There are combinations of factors or life situations that the individual is experiencing that creates, a violent tipping point.