gun safety and gun regulation (Essay Sample)

Student’s Name Professor’s Name Course Date Rhetorical Analysis: School Shootings in America Sadly, the typical location for despicable acts such as mass shootings has been predominantly schools. Unfortunately, the recent Texas school shooting that has claimed the lives of tens of children is just icing on the much-distasteful cake. Indeed, school shootings in America have become so rampant that they have transcended mere gun control reforms and legislation-prompting an unorthodox approach to map out potential shooting target locations and potential perpetrators using the pre-existing demographic data of caught offenders. Although all episodes of firearm violence are cause for concern, public mass shootings differ from other incidents in key ways. For instance, unlike family murders and a considerable portion of gang violence that may be targeted, public mass shootings are random in nature. They also typically involve considerable planning, rather than other incidents that are more spontaneous in nature, which can provide important opportunities to deescalate the situation before it culminates in the mass shooting. Similarly, the location selection presents significant challenges for both preventative security measures and responses from law enforcement to active shooter incidents. As such, better understanding this phenomenon in its unique context is necessary to distinguish strategies needed to prevent and respond to public mass shootings. Promoting a deeper understanding of mass shootings can also provide policymakers with important insights upon which to craft more effective prevention and response efforts (Schildkraut, Formica and Malatras 3). Dahmen's visual reporting of three of the most saddening school mass shootings paints the perfect picture to Americans of what to expect when an unbalanced mind decides to act out its darkest ideas. Using visual reporting to depict the event, Dahmen strategically uses events, location, perpetrators, victims, and other pertinent information such as date and time of occurrence to paint a perfect portrait of the nature of these unfortunate events. Dahmen depicts the ideal setting of the events—the school grounds hosting these regrettable events. These pieces of information surely appeal to any American as the visual representation immerses its audience into the crime scene. In all three instances, the shooter had been a student who was expelled (Dahmen 163). Dahmen's visual reports suggest that the shooters were predominantly Caucasian (Dahmen 180). However, from the onset of the study, Schildkraut, Formica and Malatras recognize that the problem of mass shootings, especially in schools, is quite tricky to solve. Indeed, the authors lament that “a central challenge in developing public policy solutions to mass shootings in America is the absence of a precise and generally accepted definition. Without this, the result is a distorted understanding of the actual context of the problem of mass and school shootings. Put plainly; we cannot solve a problem we do not fully understand” (7). The problem is complex, and the context of these attacks is quite different. While some instances may have a solid political influence or are motivated by the gunman's views, others stem from a young person's everyday depression or illness that was not diagnosed until it was too late for treatment. In such times of confusion, action must be taken and swift without fail. Ultimately, Schildkraut, Formica and Malatras posit that the problem of school shootings must be addressed and resolved on many levels, the most important of which is to identify why they occur, what the triggers are, and how to prevent such occurrences from happening again. Indeed, a complex problem requires a prudent approach to resolve. The authors state that several factors contribute to school shooters' motivations, which affect the public's response to them (based primarily on political rhetoric). Some of these factors include the availability of weapons, substance abuse problems, and mental illness (Schildkraut, Formica and Malatras 6). One might argue that several other factors, such as social isolation, media exposure, and cultural attitudes, also contribute to the increasing number of school shootings. All things considered, the only way to mitigate this problem would be by creating a profile for potential mass shooters based on the location data for common occurrences such as schools and the pre-existing perpetrators' demographics. Only then could law enforcement officials map out potential targets or even potential perpetrators! Undoubtedly, Schildkraut, Formica and Malatras offer America the most pragmatic approach to mitigating the public mass shooting problem. On that note, Gonzalez-Guarda et al. point out that school shootings present a unique challenge in understanding the genetic and environmental risk factors for violent behavior. To address this issue, these researchers synthesize a large dataset that represents mass murders to identify potential causes of these types of cases (Gonzalez-Guarda et al. 333). Conclusively, Gonzalez-Guarda et al. found that genetics and environmental factors could not explain school shootings. However, there is still a significant portion of variability relative to the other traits (335). Controversially these seemingly inexplicable school shootings may be associated with a gene or genetic marker that predisposes individuals to such events. Interestingly, Gonzalez-Guarda et al. further dissect the discourse to reveal that this sensitive issue is vulnerable to certain stereotypes. Profiling individuals absent any data or proof is stereotyping. Therefore, it is imperative not to make an unjustifiable assumption that someone who commits a heinous crime must be of a specific ethnicity or race. Markey et al. arguably best break down the stereotypic nature of this discourse. They ascertain that the appeal of stereotyping in the school shootings debate is evident in the media. The mass shootings are typified as ‘distinctive’ and were not the result of generalizable social or cultural trends (Markey et al. 493). According to Markey et al., stereotypes within school shooting investigations often associate the perpetrator's race with the ethnocentric ideology of white supremacy (497). Evidently, the hard truth is a double-edged sword for all Americans; quite challenging to take. Consequently, many Americans would rather stay blissful and shun such bad news. After all, no news is good news. Nonetheless, Markey et al. assert that these stereotypes are not at all applicable to school shootings because they do not consider variations in the circumstances and locations of school shootings (Markey et al. 497). Observably, this conclusion parallels what Gonzalez-Guarda et al. found. The researchers found that some factors at the individual level were consistently associated with school shootings (Gonzalez-Guarda et al. 336). Regardless, how do you define a school shooter? Some may say that they are crazy, but existing research suggests otherwise. Silva discussed that a significant concern is determining if the perpetrators of mass shootings are sane or insane. Many people are concerned that not all mass shooters are mentally ill, and the impact of their actions will be minimized if they are viewed as crazy. Following that train of thought, Silva discusses how mental illness is often used as a scapegoat regarding school shootings; she widens the readers’ gaze. Research indicates no evidence suggesting any credible linkage between mental illness and school shootings. Moreover, it is more likely that distressed people are more influenced by negative stereotypes of mentally ill people than mentally ill people are ...