Essay On Mass Shooting

The United Stated leads the world in mass shootings and they are become more common each day, making people wonder what is triggering them. Some believe the media is to blame for the rise in shootings while others feel that there are different circumstances. The media does inspires mass shootings by giving fame to the shooter, promoting step to reenact a mass murder, and blaming mental illness as a reason for the shootings. Most of the time, the shooter of a mass shooting is seeking for a way to get attention. Maybe he’s been unnoticed and ignore for a long time and finally wants to be heard. The media suddenly becomes the most perfect platform for this because its becoming more efficient and faster in reporting the news. They immediately

In recent times, the media has blamed most mass shootings on the fact that the shooter may have a mental illness, almost in a way as to take the direct blame off of them. This is seen almost like an excuse to someone who is planning a mass shooting because they know that they will be seen with sympathy in the eyes of the media. Most people with mental illnesses are no more dangerous than someone without one and the media’s promotion of mental illness is only making it harder for the true mentally ill to live independent lives. The Obama administration made it a point to have mental health covered by Medicaid so that there will be no excuse as to why someone would not be able to get treatment for their illness. Therefore the media should not use mental illness as a way to explain why a horrible act has occurred and instead place full, unfiltered blame onto the shooter for the acts committed. This is not to say that mental illness is not a factor in the planning of mass shootings. However the potential shooter does have access to resources to better themselves and studies show that people with mental illnesses can fully recover with continued treatments, so there should be no excuse of the horrendous actions. So when the media consistently depicts them as bad, social stigmas arise and cause more violence against them. Also, when the mental illness card is played, it takes out all other factors as to why a shooter may want to do a mass shooting. For example, poverty, substance abuse, unemployment or other stressor can be to blame for the cause of violent acts. Again this is not a valid excuse, however the only causation in the media’s perspective should not just be mental illness. (Murphy). Some say that gun owners need to have a mental health screening before they are allowed to buy a gun because of the fear that it may fall into the wrong hands.