Essay On Mass Shootings

Mass Shootings have been pretty common in the U.S. In the past 30 years or so. According to the Congressional Research Service, there have been 78 mass shootings in the United States since 1983. The shootings have resulted in 547 deaths and 1,023 casualties. Mass shootings are only responsible for a very small percentage of deaths in the United States, but mass shootings are happening more often than ever, a mass shooting happens on average one time a month. Most of the suspects of mass shootings are young males who usually commit the crime on their own with careful planning of the event. Most perpetrators have a fascination with weapons and the shootings usually occur in broad daylight in public places (Frances). There is an obvious difference in the brain of mass shooters to those of non-mass shooters. Low orbital cortex activity may be the main difference between the two groups of people. About 1 in 100 people are psychopaths, there was a study that was done at UC Irvine by James Fallon where he used a PET scan to measure brain activity. Two brains were measured one being a control and one being someone believed to be a psychopath. The difference between the two brains was a

In 1993 scientists reported a Dutch family, there were 14 members of the family and all of them were sociopaths. They entire Dutch family had a mutation in a gene that makes an enzyme called MAOA. The enzyme’s function is to break down neurotransmitters like serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine. Over production of testosterone might be a factor that creates mass shooters. Normal testosterone levels are between 20%-200% of the average, and people whose testosterone levels exceed 400%, are more prone to violent behavior and over aggression. This could be one reason as to why mass murderers do what they do but this alone is more likely than not one of the forefront reasons that they do