I'd like to ask exactly HOW someone ISN'T mentally ill if they decide to shoot up a school??

People claim "there's no evidence for psychological or mental health issues affecting the shootings" but i don't know how rational of a conclusion that claim really is.

I mean, I'd really like to know what the other reasons are for why someone would do this. Excluding the terrorists known commonly as incels ("I'm going to shoot a school full of my classmates because a girl I liked didn't accept my advances"), there have been individuals that have literally shot up classrooms where only kindergarten kids were.

I don't agree that a shooting like the Sandy Hook shooting was on the same level as that of an incel killer. The man was a grown adult and his victims were all 5-6 year old children, and I'm really wondering how exactly someone didn't rule out mental health in that case. Because if you wake up in the morning and decide to shoot up a classroom filled with kindergarten kids, you are mentally unhealthy to some extent.

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NoahB · 31-35, M

I think the separation between mentally ill and violence is an important distinction.

Yes, it's sick to shoot up a school. But oftentimes people do sick things with complete mental acuity. Ascribing metal health issues as the sole reason behind violence also absolves society of any responsibility for the action. Which in some cases is good, but in other cases may not be a healthy diagnosis of the problem. School shootings are a reoccurring event in America, and exclusively in America.

redredred · M

@NoahB Anders Brievik would like a word with you.

Graylight · 51-55, F

@NoahB More importantly to note, mentally ill people are no more violent or aggressive than the rest of the population. This is well documented and uncontested. It's time society's understanding grew up a little.

(https://www.apa.org/monitor/2021/04/ce-mental-illness)

NoahB · 31-35, M

@redredred That was a car bombing by an adult 10 years ago. We have a school shooting like every other year. And bombings by adults too

redredred · M

@NoahB beg your pardon?

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-41678010

NoahB · 31-35, M

@Graylight yeah thats another big one.

NoahB · 31-35, M

@redredred oh my bad it was a shooting too? Well okay you got me there. but even so, we just had a mass shooting in vegas 4 years ago. and than another one a year before in an orlando nightclub.

redredred · M

@NoahB it was the phrase “…exclusively in America” that caught my eye.

NoahB · 31-35, M

@redredred Fair enough, but I was talking about school shootings. Which yeah that is kind of an american thing

Graylight · 51-55, F

@redredred But it is, virtually. You can compare random crime stats like bombings to shootings, but that's irrelevant information.

298 schools and 278,000 children exposed to gun violence as a result of those shootings. That's the current annual count for

school

shootings alone. By contrast, 12 years, 30 people had been shot dead by police.
(Verkaik; Bennetto. "Shot dead by police 30. Officers convicted 0".)Nothing in Europe comes close to approaching that level of school violence with guns.

In fact, no other country approaches the US phenomenon.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41488081

MickRogers · 26-30, M

@NoahB They're not an event that is exclusive to countries with gun rights though.

America's laws on guns, for instance, are more restricted than Switzerland's.

NoahB · 31-35, M

@MickRogers precisely. Switzerland has guns too but dramatically lower instances of school shooters. so guns aren't the issue. However speaking broadly mentally ill people are a greater threat to themselves than to other. and statistics prove that they are only about 2% more violent than some neurotypical person. And statistically speaking they are no more violent than 'high risk' demographics such as men or young adults or people with less than a high school education.

to me this kid isn't mentally ill. just extremely pissed off, had access to guns, and (typical of a child) does not understand the permanence or weight of his actions. Which sadly led to a tragedy.

MickRogers · 26-30, M

@NoahB OK fine. Mental health might not be necessarily the issue (or at the very least, not the main one) but it's also not the guns.