In just about every one of these shooting events the perpetrator was taking psychiatric medicines. Outlaw, regulate, or restrict those medicines.

Don’t have to be a conservative right winger to see the solution—everyone should be yelling bloody murder to get things changed.

@WilliamFleming I didn't know that. Do you think the drugs are causing them to snap, Or the underlying mental issues that they have to begin with?

@Kojaksmom Google and you’ll find lots of information. It’s a sticky subject because the vast majority of those using psychiatric drugs don’t turn into mass murderers. Also, many patients swear by their drugs. My personal unprofessional opinion is that those drugs should be used sparingly and temporarily. There are better ways to help people as described in the book “ Rethinking Madness”. Also read Peter Breggin.

Perhaps those drugs deaden ones sense of empathy—I can’t say.

Good reply but I’m sure the liberals will disagree with you!

We had the after school thing, until the budget cuts

Not just liberals but anyone with any real sense. More excuses to avoid the elephant in the room. Too easy access to weapons of mass killings, Duh!

@Trajan61 yeah you conservatives live in a utopian Father Knows Best fantasy. He left out eat your vegetables, listen to your mom and dad, drink plenty of water and get daily exercise. To be quite honest with you some School shooters actually did come from homes like he mentioned. Most of them are high risk unfortunate kids coming from unfortunate situations. And they somehow or another get access to mass killing machines.

@Trajan61, @MikeFlora I remember those from back in my day in elementary school ,but by High School after school programs dried up for all. The only way for parents to keep their children active after school ,if they're not there to supervise them, is expensive and out of reach for poor families.

I agree ,however, our country is not really known for putting our money where our mouth is when it comes to these values. Some of them don't require money but many of them do

@MikeFlora
No, it's not the same thing. In Canada the old people were studying up on the primary and middle school subjects so that they could help the children in schools or community centers. They were asked to help, they weren't paid. That's the difference, the Canadian elderly wanted to do it out of the kindness of their hearts and their reward was seeing the children succeed.

If money is needed to do something nice which might help others then the US must be a very uncharitable place. I'd hope that isn't the case.

@MikeFlora, @JackPedigo
Tell that to New Zealand and Sweden. You can still buy an AK-47, AUG Steyr, AR15, etc. In New Zealand. They didn't change their gun laws after 1996 yet they don't have regular mass shootings. That just goes to show that proper values and culture are what affect the tendency to engage in mas shootings.

@MikeFlora, @JackPedigo, @Kojaksmom
The funny thing is, my school initiated a role model program where the parents or parent would help the child to select a good role model from their family friends. That cost $0 which means it is free as long as the family friend is willing to help. This was not a substitute for real parenting but offered the children someone they could turn to for advice, someone to confide in, etc.
This program was free and it relied on people willing to give up 2 days a month during the weekend to go out and do something fun. Sailing, hiking, shooting, painting, singing, drawing, swimming, skating, surfing, etc. There are thousands of activities out there that the mentors introduced their students to. I went sailing and gardening with my mentor and learnt so much from him. Because you know what this does? It forms lasting relationships. even 3 years after the program ended I still keep in contact with my mentor, I even chose the same career path as him. Forming lasting relationships will help kids in need of attention and moral support to prevent them from committing atrocities like mass shootings. But unfortunately in the US it sounds like you need to be paid to do something good.

@Kojaksmom
I know what you mean. I'm pretty lucky to be able to work in Australia where if you work at McDonalds you earn a minimum wage of $17.70 AUD.

I know that many families around the world are struggling to make ends meet but the idea behind this small solution of the mentor/student program was that it was free. The school I went to which initiated the program knew that some parents wouldn't have enough time to do things like this so they turned to family friends. It worked pretty well for me and my friends and I recommend the US schools spend just 5 hours of work to make it happen for them. It would also help kids who are being bullied since they will have someone to confide in.

@Lancer I noted your mention of parents or parent. Often times the problems come from those parents. In the latest shooting the guns all belonged to the father. My late partner was an elementary school teacher and did a lot of parent/teacher conferences. Parents don't always have the best interests of their kids at heart. I have heard many crazy stories.

@Lancer Whose values and whose culture??? We have over 320 million people with different values and a huge number of immigrants with different cultures. One cannot compare one country with another. Sweden and New Zealand don't have the gun culture, industry and spokes lackey (NRA) that we do. Sweden has a much higher personal income tax base than we do and use that money for creating strong social programs.

@JackPedigo
Again, it's up to the people within the community to make these sacrifices. If they want change to happen then they need to start with themselves. Otherwise these type of shootings will never stop. You don't even need money, you just need someone with leadership to run the program, the sad thing is that leaders are hard to come by these days.

Yes there will be parents who are degenerates. But it's up to individuals to make a choice between crying and complaining or doing something to make the change they so desperately want to see. You don't get the reward just by asking for it, you have to put in the work yourself. These people don't understand that. So whoever is calling for mass shootings to stop must either find the time to initiate these types of programs/changes or shut the hell up. Instead of funding marches, fund after school programs. Christ, you can spend hundreds of thousands on speakers, podiums, celebrities, etc. but you can't spend any money on after school programs with the elderly? All you need to do is pay for electricity and a few snacks for 4 days a week. I could do that with $50 a week and for some reason it's "too much"? Seriously, the people who complain must have a very low level of intelligence if all they can do is scream like apes.

As for societal and cultural values. I'm pretty sure in all cultures we share a common value for nuclear families and not killing each other. That's all we need. Stop demonizing men, reaffirm the importance of a nuclear family, stop bullying the kids in school and spend 1 hour each weekend to teach the children to value life and treat others with courtesy. How is it that hard?

Don't go blaming the NRA or politicians. This is the insanity of liberal "values" and weak leadership within communities that has caused this.

As I have said before, the solution is pretty simple but people don't want to put the work in to make it happen. If all the parents spent $5 each on the school program I guarantee that it will make a difference if properly implemented. So get those people to stop marching and start brainstorming. Because if you're going to complain about something then put your money where your mouth is and start implementing solutions.

@Lancer All I said was we had the afterschool thing

@Lancer Some young people are totally idealistic and think issues are simple. When (if) they grow up and if they are able to see other countries from that countries perspective they might have a leg to stand on. This has been an issue with me and many of us far longer than the millennial's have been alive! We are far beyond pie-in-the-sky lectures.

@Lancer Never happen this country, nobody cares enough. We do have big brother program, but not a lot of people do it.

@Lancer how much is a big mac?

People in this country don't care enough for their fellow man to do the stuff you're talking about

@MikeFlora @JackPedigo
As long as you're all alright with rolling the dice and seeing which school is next then doing nothing is fine. I don't really care since that problem doesn't affect me. I just thought that people who want change should just put their money where their mouth is.

Part of growing up is also looking to other countries to learn how to fix your own countries programs, it's a part of learning. The wisdom to fix America's problems will not come from America alone, that is to say that other countries are safer than the US but this will not always be the case.

@Lancer You got a big part of that right "...growing up..."

@JackPedigo
Having access to guns doesn't mean there will be more massacres. You can use a gun, car or bomb to wreak jut as much havoc or even more. The method used is just as important as the factors that led to the event. But everyone focuses on the method rather than the cause. It's insane.

@Lancer It's not having access but actually having guns. Studies have shown that owning a gun can and often does change how a person thinks. Excuse me again but many of us, myself included, have been fighting this for decades. We have far more knowledge and experience than idealistic, young people who don't even live here.

@JackPedigo
Fair enough. I just don't want the US to end up like the UK but it doesn't really matter.
The current US gun laws are fine, they just need to be implemented correctly. Mass shootings, just like regular murders are a psychological problem. The method is not the problem. But the US won't fix the problem because the government aren't the ones who need to do it. It's the job of the mothers and fathers of the US, to raise their children to value the lives of others.
I've seen this behavior many times in Australia and the UK. Parents who drop their kids off at school, army cadets, etc. and think to themselves "You raise them, I don't have time".
This shows a detachment and dislike towards the child. Whichever way you put it this is a recipe for disaster. The parents are the key.

When I was a kid and my dad dropped me off at kindergarten he saw all the children playing together. Building blocks, drawing, playing with toys, etc. But one child walked around stealing toys, crayons, blocks, etc. from all the other kids. The mother had just dropped him off and was having a chat with the teacher. My dad saw this and said to both the mother "Is that your kid?" she said yes. He asked "Aren't you going to stop them from behaving like that?" her answer was "That's just how kids play" so my dad walked over, picked the kid up, took the things away and gave them to the other kids before disciplining the child. The mother came running over "What are you doing!?!?" my dad calmly responded "I'm disciplining your child, obviously you wouldn't recognize this since your parents failed to discipline you".

At the end of the day. Every murderer, rapist, school shooter had a parent who didn't discipline them or instill values into them. It's called raising a child, not letting the child grow up unattended.

@Lancer Please stop with the idealistic bs. I have lived in Europe and traveled in England often. I know something of the British culture (my best friends here are from Norwich). Young, dreamy-eyed people who know nothing of this country may give their ideas, but in, the end it only comes out to hyperbole. It has no real value. We, in THIS country have been dealing with this for decades. It is about the gun industry and it's lackey, the NRA!!! Enough said.

@JackPedigo
Blaming an organisation which promotes the safe use of guns for hunting and sporting purposes is not the reason why mass shootings occur.

Blaming an organisation for the failures of the individuals is just stupid. If a child chokes on lego you don't blame the lego you blame the parent for giving it to them and not watching them.

Parenting, the main cause of messed up kids since the beginning of civilization Vs Guns, the main method of mass murder since 1500.

Guns are not the reason mass shootings occur, they are the tool.

I agree and parents need to be held responsible. Today shooting is an example of that. The father owned guns that the kid was able to get his hands on easily. Another responsible gun owner

@Kojaksmom Absolutely. If someone in your family uses your weapon to injure or kill another person, you should bare part of the blame.

Well, we can get started controlling. It's better to be late than never. Australia did it with gun buy-backs. They reduced gun violence a lot.

Don't bet on it