When will it stop?
When discussing Public Discourse, it is helpful that there are current issues or topics that are being displayed in media. We can look at these and see how exactly the discourse comes together and what that outcome comes out to be. Public Discourse is particularly acute at a time when many commentators, on both the left and the right, are concerned with the issue of civility in public life.
From learning what the media has shown us, the shooter in the incident was only a nineteen-year old male who had access to two weapons that he had bought last year despite there being concerns with the FBI. In this shooting, a total of eight people were killed, which were: Matthew R. Alexander, 32; Samaria Blackwell, 19; Amarjeet Johal, 66; Jaswinder Kaur, 64; Jaswinder Singh, 68; Amarjit Sekhon, 48; Karli Smith, 19; and John Weisert, 74. There were also plenty of others who were injured due to this tragic incident.
There are probably many questions that people want to have answered. The biggest one to ask is, 'What is causing these horrible mass shootings and what can we do to stop them?' This incident is the 45th mass shooting in the United States since the Atlanta-area spa shootings on March 16. It is only April 19 as I am writing this blog post. To rephrase that, that's 45 mass shootings in the span of 34 days.
These incidents won't continue to stop unless something is done about it.
When we look into why exactly the U.S. has so many mass shootings, it is very easy to access firearms in the United States and it’s really easy access for people who are dangerous. To fix this issue, many states have laws where they are able to legally take away guns (temporarily) from people who might be a danger to themselves or others. in Alabama, domestic abusers cannot have guns as well as those convicted of violent crimes.
The main question I have to ask for you is: What do you think was the motive for this incident? Or if you believe there was no motive at all, why do you think that? The last question is: What do you think we can do to stop the act of these horrible mass shootings? It can be quite difficult to answer as many people have strong opinions on the issue. But in order for something to be resolved, there needs to be that discussion, whether we like it or not.
I do not think that there was a motive for this mass shooting. Honestly, I think that the reason for some (not all) of these shootings is lack of proper mental health resources and how mental health issues still has a negative stigma surrounding it. When there isn't an outlet for their anger and anguish caused by their mental health, they turn to consuming any sort of violent media content they can. Then it turns into "well, I can do that too". Finally, it peaks when they shoot innocent civilians.
ReplyDeleteNow the discourse surrounding mass shootings is a wreck that we cannot look away from. If we do, there is always that fear of "what if I'm in the next mass shooting?" If we don't, we get slammed with this tidal wave of names of victims in previous shootings, people saying "you're not taking away our guns!", and the unanswered question of "why?". I know that my thoughts on it will sound so basic, but I genuinely think that reframing how mental health is talked about would help. It has improved significantly over the past few years (#itsokaytonotbeokay movement) but treating anxiety and depression as topics that need to be kept hush hush is more damaging to not only the person in need of mental help but to others.
I honestly have no idea why people commit mass shootings. I know sometimes I get in my head that I need to do something even though I don't want to do it or I get so focused on it that if I don't do it I feel really sick. I don't know if this is the same thing at all, and this is not me making excuses for mass shooters. The media focuses on mental health when it comes to mass shootings, and it seems that is the only time that the media gives mental health and mental health resources any kind of attention, because you have to have a mental illness to be a criminal right? It not only gives criminals an excuse but also makes it seem like all mentally ill people are just a few bad days from also committing a crime. People with mental illnesses like myself are tired of hearing the same rhetoric in the media about mental health stigma and shootings.
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