There but for the grace of God, go I....
I was that highly intelligent (top 1%), social outcast who was terribly abused by my peers from about 3rd grade through high school. I wanted so badly to give a wake-up call to the world that punished me daily seemingly just for breathing.
I realize this is very dangerous for me but I have a rather rare insight into the possible motives of this severely damaged individual. Nobody wants to hear this but the answer to preventing at least some of the similar tragedies to come… and they will come, has nothing at all to do with gun control, security or any preparation but in media coverage. The next sick individual to do this is watching the news right now and figuring out how to get his name to go down in infamy as well... probably in a bigger way.
Throughout my childhood, I wondered if I somehow had some sign on me that said to everyone else "mess with me". Thankfully for me and everyone around me, there never was a time when I could actually hurt people. Like most other people, it just isn't something I could ever bring myself to do and my own will to live meant I never seriously considered suicide either. Instead, my strategy was to try to treat people well in hopes of acceptance and wait for a better time ( it never worked, I just got taken advantage of) .
Usually the type of wake-up call I imagined was of the very embarrassing type rather than the violent: Outing my tormenters as the monsters they were to great crowds of people. But when I was more violently abused by my peers ( I had no abuse at home but on more than one occasion I really believed I was about to die at the hands of my peers), I would imagine much more horrific ways of sending that call. There were no guns in my house so when things were very bad, I would learn how to make explosives both pyrotechnic and otherwise. With no intention of ever actually doing anything, I learned how to make airborne poisons that could take out entire buildings worth of people after the Legionnaire's Disease event gave me that idea. I won't go into any more detail, but there was no internet for me to do my research and I was able to learn these things. Imagine what can be learned today with so much less effort than a library. For me, planning out how to do these things seemed to satisfy my needs.
Except for my tormenters and me, no one else had a clue what was going on. Previous attempts to have authority figures step in only resulted in much worse treatment in retribution so I became quite adept at appearing happy and fairly well adjusted at least to adults. I got along only with adults and wanted so much to be able to join their world because I could see it would be better. That hope probably saved me.
Believe me. You do not want the alternatives if these sick individuals can't get guns. The easiest weapon that will make a good-enough statement will be used most often but not always. At Columbine, where thankfully only a few of the 99 explosive devices detonated, you wouldn’t know it from the media coverage but guns were the backup plan. Guns have one pull of the trigger that generally only hurts one person and by design, in accordance with the rules of war portion of the Hague Convention (July 29, 1899) , military weapons and their ammunition are on the LOWER end of lethality meaning survival is more likely when shot by an "assault weapon" rather than say a hunting weapon. It is also strategically better to wound in war: if you kill a soldier, you take 1 person out of the battle. If you wound, 2 more soldiers stop fighting to drag the wounded one off and more soldiers are needed in medical roles rather than direct fighting roles. Ask a veteran of Iraq or Afghanistan what they were most afraid of and the answer will not be guns. It will be IMPROVISED explosive devices.
Explosives or other mass murder methods can be so much more destructive and are so easy to make without using any items that could ever be on the ATF watch list. The point of committing these acts is to make the biggest, most horrific show they can imagine that affects as many people as possible. Always remember, these are some of the most intelligent people alive and almost none of that intelligence is used to figure out social rules. They see survivors and victim’s families after others commit these acts but do not understand that people who are not accustomed to being brutalized constantly will be far more damaged that they would be in the same situation. At the point they commit these crimes, they are emotionally numb. Because whatever horrific act they commit is a single even rather than the sustained attack over many years they have endured, they feel like they are giving the world only a small taste of what they feel they have received
In the extremely rare case an individual is damaged enough to be capable of hurting people, are suicidal and become determined to go out with a statement, they WILL figure out a way.
I wish there was an easy way to prevent all of these senseless tragedies, but no matter what you make unavailable, no matter what type of security you put in place, no matter how prepared you are, no matter how many laws you enact, it will happen again and the stakes will go up. Violent games and movies do NOT contribute to these acts. In fact, they may prevent these acts by giving an outlet to and satisfying the blood lust and violent fantasies enough and in a way that doesn’t hurt anyone.
These people will avoid detection and identification by learning how it is done and never showing those traits. In all cases so far, there has been no signs until plans were in motion, then some people are given cryptic information that only made sense after the plan is executed.
Technology is the comfort zone for many of these people and they generally have a very deep understanding of how it works and how to get around it. In some cases, technology is their only friend.
The only thing I know would prevent at least some of these events is to change how media reports on them. I understand that most people will disagree with me on this but I have a unique perspective here. Media should only report that some sick individual committed whatever heinous act and leave it at that. Delving into the pain of the victims, and trying to explain why an individual did what he or she did is accomplishing the attacker’s goal for them. There is no rational explanation for killing outside of self-defense. Aside from continuing the trauma to the victims by skilled interviewers who bring them to the point of emotional breakdown and keep them there for the duration of the interview, most reporting I see is playing to the same blood lust that saw slaves fighting lions bare handed in the Roman Coliseum. But the worst effect of our current media coverage is that the next person who is close to the edge is seeing that coverage and imagining their own name in the news if they also go out in a big, horrific way. They know the media will tell their story to the world. Someone who can commit such acts has only this one thing left. In other words: The media is killing people for ratings.
I believe that if there were no telling of the tale, many of these people would not seriously consider taking other lives. When they eventually do go over the edge, they will more likely just try to escape through suicide or have a mental breakdown. But maybe, the next would-be mass murderer will seek and receive the help he or she needs. The point of this and other horrific massacres is to be heard. To yell as loud and clear as possible about how much pain they live with. They once sought empathy but are now so numb they are incapable of feeling it themselves.
It is a good feeling to come together as a community or even a nation in support of the victims of violent crimes. But is that good feeling worth causing another situation where we can come together in that way again?
I was that highly intelligent (top 1%), social outcast who was terribly abused by my peers from about 3rd grade through high school. I wanted so badly to give a wake-up call to the world that punished me daily seemingly just for breathing.
I realize this is very dangerous for me but I have a rather rare insight into the possible motives of this severely damaged individual. Nobody wants to hear this but the answer to preventing at least some of the similar tragedies to come… and they will come, has nothing at all to do with gun control, security or any preparation but in media coverage. The next sick individual to do this is watching the news right now and figuring out how to get his name to go down in infamy as well... probably in a bigger way.
Throughout my childhood, I wondered if I somehow had some sign on me that said to everyone else "mess with me". Thankfully for me and everyone around me, there never was a time when I could actually hurt people. Like most other people, it just isn't something I could ever bring myself to do and my own will to live meant I never seriously considered suicide either. Instead, my strategy was to try to treat people well in hopes of acceptance and wait for a better time ( it never worked, I just got taken advantage of) .
Usually the type of wake-up call I imagined was of the very embarrassing type rather than the violent: Outing my tormenters as the monsters they were to great crowds of people. But when I was more violently abused by my peers ( I had no abuse at home but on more than one occasion I really believed I was about to die at the hands of my peers), I would imagine much more horrific ways of sending that call. There were no guns in my house so when things were very bad, I would learn how to make explosives both pyrotechnic and otherwise. With no intention of ever actually doing anything, I learned how to make airborne poisons that could take out entire buildings worth of people after the Legionnaire's Disease event gave me that idea. I won't go into any more detail, but there was no internet for me to do my research and I was able to learn these things. Imagine what can be learned today with so much less effort than a library. For me, planning out how to do these things seemed to satisfy my needs.
Except for my tormenters and me, no one else had a clue what was going on. Previous attempts to have authority figures step in only resulted in much worse treatment in retribution so I became quite adept at appearing happy and fairly well adjusted at least to adults. I got along only with adults and wanted so much to be able to join their world because I could see it would be better. That hope probably saved me.
Believe me. You do not want the alternatives if these sick individuals can't get guns. The easiest weapon that will make a good-enough statement will be used most often but not always. At Columbine, where thankfully only a few of the 99 explosive devices detonated, you wouldn’t know it from the media coverage but guns were the backup plan. Guns have one pull of the trigger that generally only hurts one person and by design, in accordance with the rules of war portion of the Hague Convention (July 29, 1899) , military weapons and their ammunition are on the LOWER end of lethality meaning survival is more likely when shot by an "assault weapon" rather than say a hunting weapon. It is also strategically better to wound in war: if you kill a soldier, you take 1 person out of the battle. If you wound, 2 more soldiers stop fighting to drag the wounded one off and more soldiers are needed in medical roles rather than direct fighting roles. Ask a veteran of Iraq or Afghanistan what they were most afraid of and the answer will not be guns. It will be IMPROVISED explosive devices.
Explosives or other mass murder methods can be so much more destructive and are so easy to make without using any items that could ever be on the ATF watch list. The point of committing these acts is to make the biggest, most horrific show they can imagine that affects as many people as possible. Always remember, these are some of the most intelligent people alive and almost none of that intelligence is used to figure out social rules. They see survivors and victim’s families after others commit these acts but do not understand that people who are not accustomed to being brutalized constantly will be far more damaged that they would be in the same situation. At the point they commit these crimes, they are emotionally numb. Because whatever horrific act they commit is a single even rather than the sustained attack over many years they have endured, they feel like they are giving the world only a small taste of what they feel they have received
In the extremely rare case an individual is damaged enough to be capable of hurting people, are suicidal and become determined to go out with a statement, they WILL figure out a way.
I wish there was an easy way to prevent all of these senseless tragedies, but no matter what you make unavailable, no matter what type of security you put in place, no matter how prepared you are, no matter how many laws you enact, it will happen again and the stakes will go up. Violent games and movies do NOT contribute to these acts. In fact, they may prevent these acts by giving an outlet to and satisfying the blood lust and violent fantasies enough and in a way that doesn’t hurt anyone.
These people will avoid detection and identification by learning how it is done and never showing those traits. In all cases so far, there has been no signs until plans were in motion, then some people are given cryptic information that only made sense after the plan is executed.
Technology is the comfort zone for many of these people and they generally have a very deep understanding of how it works and how to get around it. In some cases, technology is their only friend.
The only thing I know would prevent at least some of these events is to change how media reports on them. I understand that most people will disagree with me on this but I have a unique perspective here. Media should only report that some sick individual committed whatever heinous act and leave it at that. Delving into the pain of the victims, and trying to explain why an individual did what he or she did is accomplishing the attacker’s goal for them. There is no rational explanation for killing outside of self-defense. Aside from continuing the trauma to the victims by skilled interviewers who bring them to the point of emotional breakdown and keep them there for the duration of the interview, most reporting I see is playing to the same blood lust that saw slaves fighting lions bare handed in the Roman Coliseum. But the worst effect of our current media coverage is that the next person who is close to the edge is seeing that coverage and imagining their own name in the news if they also go out in a big, horrific way. They know the media will tell their story to the world. Someone who can commit such acts has only this one thing left. In other words: The media is killing people for ratings.
I believe that if there were no telling of the tale, many of these people would not seriously consider taking other lives. When they eventually do go over the edge, they will more likely just try to escape through suicide or have a mental breakdown. But maybe, the next would-be mass murderer will seek and receive the help he or she needs. The point of this and other horrific massacres is to be heard. To yell as loud and clear as possible about how much pain they live with. They once sought empathy but are now so numb they are incapable of feeling it themselves.
It is a good feeling to come together as a community or even a nation in support of the victims of violent crimes. But is that good feeling worth causing another situation where we can come together in that way again?