In the mid-20th Century a mass shooting was relatively unheard of. The definition of a mass shooting according to Stav Ziv is, "using the FBI's definition of mass murder -- four or more people killed" (Ziv 20). Every month in the U.S you hear about a mass shooting occurring that involves the death of many people. This trend is leaving researches baffled. Through the use of statistics and formulas we can see how and why this trend is taking place.  The inclination of shootings in America have sky rocketed for many reasons. American citizens have become less sensitive to the violence being portrayed through the media. The constant allowance of parents enabling their kids to play violent videogames could affect their psych causing developmental problems in the brain, leading to mental illness. Secondly, the media's depiction of the shooter causes a copycat syndrome for future shooters that want fandom. The media is putting the shooters letters in big, bold text that offers him a sense of martyrdom for the acts he committed. Lastly, the availability of guns and gun control could affect the shooters ability to obtain these deadly weapons to carry out his or her crime. Gun control plays an important role in disallowing the culprit from easily obtaining a gun. With proper background checks, many schizophrenics wouldn't even be able to obtain guns. A great deal of research, however, suggests that behavioral scientists don't have an explanation to what drives mass shootings and violent rampages, or why they've increased in recent decades. Some say they are contagious, or due to mental illness, and lastly the lack of gun control thereof. The reason why mass shootings have been on the rise and commonly occurring in the United States in the past few decades is due to the inability to address mental illness, the media's portrayal of the shooter, and the lack of gun control. 

It seems that the idea of mass shootings in America are increasing astronomically isn't just an figment of our imagination anymore, but is a real threat to our society according to Stav of Newsweek these incidents are occurring at an overwhelming pace, "Mass shootings in schools, movie theaters and other public places have left scores of victims in their wake. And an overwhelming number of them have occurred in the United States" (Ziv 20). The random nature of these shootings could be traced back to the mental instability of the perpetrator. The idea that a large number of these mass shootings are occurring in the United States has to relate to some statistic or justifying cause.  According to Mark Follman of Mother Jones a large percentage of these shooters have displayed some sign of a mental illness. "We identified and analyzed 62 of them ...  at least 38 of them displayed signs of possible mental health problems prior to the killings" (Mother Jones). These mental illnesses are signs of either mental abuses, trauma or even substance abuse that were developed at a young age. A large portion of these shootings could have been prevented by better treatment of these mental disorders. By receiving the proper care they need at the appropriate time, likely at a young age, these shootings wouldn't have occurred due to their problems being handled in a timely matter and not swept under the table for someone else to worry about. The built up stress and being socially ostracized will cause the person to seek revenge or take his frustration out on those who are innocent. We can see this example put into action in the Virginia Tech Shooting of 2007, "gunman Seng-Hui Cho killed 32 individuals and then himself ...  were being treated for mental disorder" (Wallace 162). If this student was able to get the help he desperately needed the likelihood of this tragic event to unfold would have been reduced. The pressure he was under from his finals and studying broke him past his exertion point and he in return carried out this heinous crime. To treat these individuals there are options that are available, but at the same time hinder ones civil rights according to Josh Sanburn of The Breif, "assisted outpatient treatment allows courts to impose treatment on adults considered a risk to themselves or others" (Sanburn 12). This would dramatically help reduce the mentally ill from obtaining guns and receiving the care they need. This is a pro-active way of dealing with those that are afflicted by a mental illness. The reason behind mass shootings increasing in the past decades is due to the inability to treat the mentally ill. 

The media has an outstanding effect on whether or not a future shooter will have any interest in carrying out a mass shooting in the future. The media itself has the ability to incite fear into the nation by covering the story in a way that will lean you either towards blaming it on the guns, or the mental illness itself. The media according to Wallace states that, "Most individuals learn of mass shootings through mass media. As a result, the media can shape how the general public perceives and reacts to these events" (161). As a result of the media's portrayal one might go out and buy a gun to feel more protected, or feel bias towards large public schools because they are a birthing ground for bullies and school violence. The media has the ability to alter the public's mind and shape their thinking towards their bias. The media relies on emotional accounts, rather than facts to develop their story, which in results leads to a skewed interpretation of their account. According to Stav of Newsweek "U.S. accounts for less than 5 percent of the world's population, it had nearly 31 percent of global mass shootings between 1966 and 2012" (20). There has to be a reason vested in America's culture that allows shooters to be formed so easily and profusely. The news media over sensationalism of a mass shooting causes those who watch to succumb to the fear factor. Relating this to a gas explosion in Belgium, many thought it was a bomb due to the recent event in Brussels, but it was the fear that was permanently installed due to previous transgressions of terrorist's threats. The factor of whether a mass shooting receives little coverage such as regionally, or nationally could affect the nation's ability to react a different way. A gang shooting that results in four deaths is likely to receive little coverage in just that region compared to the shooting of Columbine, Colorado. This effect will cause future shooters to aim for the national appeal and aiming for more casualties. To remove this motive of achieving national infamy the media should not name the shooter says a University of Alabama Criminologist, " ...  a desire for notoriety ...   -- helps drive some people to commit mass shootings" (Sanburn; Adam Lankford 12). The act of removing the criminals name eliminates the perpetrator's national infamy and reduces the chance of copycat tragedies. School shootings are under the category of mass shootings that hits the public extraordinarily hard in terms of sensitivity. By allowing more school resource officers to be placed in school we reduce the chance of mass shootings occurring. After the shooting of Columbine the FBI create a behavior-analysis team that works with local law officials and school officials which helps prevent these incidents from occurring. According to Sanburn this analysis team has been effective in reducing these incidents from occurring, "has responded to more than 400 cases, and then Attorney General Eric Holder said it prevented 150 attacks in 2013" (12). This is one of many effective strategies in effectively reducing the chance of these mass shootings to occur in school. School shootings seem to receive more coverage than mass shootings in other theatres because it involves little children where it is assumed it is a safe environment, but many other factors play a role in why the media covers a story more or less than another. The media's portrayal of a shooting is highly influenced by the regional factors, the regions culture and the ability to incite fear into the public to persuade the public in making irrational biased decisions and by excluding the shooter's name can we reduce the chance of copycat attacks in the future. 

The cause of mass shootings in recent decades to escalate could also be related to gun control, or lack of control for that matter. In a recent survey carried out by Stav he found that the most statiscally strong factor that relates to mass shooting is the firearm ownership rate, "the U.S. was the world leader in civilian firearm ownership, with roughly 270 million firearms for 300 million people" (20). The U.S being the leader in civilian firearm ownership was the in the top 15 for mass shootings, the U.S being number one. This statistic cannot go unnoticed in the sense that this proves why so many shootings occur because the shooters have easy access to obtaining a deadly weapon. This deadly weapon could be obtained by stealing it from your parents, a black market trade or even purchasing one for yourself. According to Wallace she found that about half those who owned guns were only owned for self-defense and that a third of those who responded had a gun in their house or garage. "approximately 46% of the survey respondents report that their primary reason for owning a gun is self-defense ...  in 2012, 34% said they had a gun in their home or garage" (162). The availability for guns is flabbergasting to those who wish to obtain it. Adam Lanza of the Newtown Massacre obtained his guns through his parents. The ability for shooters to obtain guns directly relates to those statistics pointing to that a third of those who took the survey had guns readily available. Guns are to easily available for those who want one. This can be backed up by the gun control bills being unable to pass in congress. If congress was not even able to enact gun control on a federal level, what makes you think it will happen any time soon? "The background check amendment, similar to the gun control legislation that failed to pass the Senate in 2013 after the Sandy Hook school shooting, failed with 48 senators in favor and 50 against"(Arkin Web). This shows that even after a national tragedy like Sandy Hook, gun control will not be enacted any time soon because of America's love for readily available firearms, deeply vested in America's 2nd amendment right. Many quotes were made after these shootings such as, "guns don't kill people, people kill people," and " the only way to kill a bad guy with a gun, is a good guy with a gun." These quotes are justification that police need to do more to help the control of firearms. Some states have already allowed cops to start flagging people that seem dangerous or at risk of a mental disability. "states have begun allowing authorities to flag people they deem too dangerous to own guns ...  members can seek a firearm restraining order if a relative who owns a gun shows signs of potential violence" (Sanburn 12). This has already been in effect in conneticut where 100's of firearms have been seized that have shown signs of hurting themselves or others. (Sanburn 12). These gun control measures will effectively reduce the amount of mass shootings that occur by limiting those with problems from allowing them to obtain guns. Other also argue to hold the gun manufactures liable for the perpetrator's actions. Buy selling automatic rifles to the public that were designed for war, such as the AR-15 are negligent and are fully aware of the consequences that come out from it. This will enact financial incentives to include safety precautions and track the sale of these firearms to prevent them from getting into the wrong hands. 

The ability for mass shooters to cause mass shootings is deeply vested in the mental psych of the shooter, the media' portrayal of the shooter, and the lack of gun control in the United States. We can only do so much to stop these events from unfolding and even recent studies have suggested there is no correlation to what we can do to prevent these incidents from happening again. ""taking guns away from the mentally ill won't eliminate mass shootings" unless such efforts are linked to larger prevention efforts that have a broader impact on communities" (Metzl 246). There are some research studies that say we don't know when and why these mass shootings happen and that there is no correlation. All in all, these shootings are determined by the shooters motive, not some math equation or statistic thought up in a lab.

