The Guns & Ammo Network

School Shootings: Spring’s the Time?

by Robert W. Hunnicutt • February 27, 2012 • 5 comments

Is it just me, or do you recall spring being the time for school shootings? The most famous of all, Columbine in Colorado, took place April 20, 1999.

Thanks to the ever-handy internet, we can access a world timeline of school shootings:
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0777958.html

This seems to show that, yes, February, March and April are particularly dangerous months, though September can be a little risky, too.

All this comes to mind because of a shooting incident today in Chardon, Ohio. One student was killed and four others wounded when a typical “outcast, Goth, bullied” fellow student opened fire.

Faculty immediately locked down the building, limiting casualties, and police quickly arrested the young criminal.

The would-be killer apparently Tweeted his intentions beforehand, but no one took him seriously, which illustrates that sort of communication should always be treated seriously.

I once read an essay that said films and television have fundamentally changed our brains because their relentless single point of view implies a world where other people are no more than bit players in one’s own biography. That seems to be clearly the case with school-age nutjobs who try to massacre their peers.

In Culture & Politics, Handguns, Uncategorized • Tagged , ,
  • Antonio

    I don't know if they're "nutjobs." I think most teens can be influenced, one way or another, and one thoughtful conversation may have changed this course of action. May have, but I'm no psychologist. I'd just be hesitant to type cast them — like films and television typecast characters.

    • R.W. Hunnicutt

      Fair comment. Sometimes it is hard to be just, but be just we must.

  • Heretic

    Every time something like this happens, it always comes out later that the shooter was on some kind of pharma dope. Ritalin. prozac, whatever. These drugs are basically just methamphetamine. They mess with brain chemistry. My money says this kid was on something too.

  • Antonio

    The "experts" are already blaming easy access to guns for this tragedy. I suppose if the parent/s didn't properly secure the firearm, this could be a valid point. But I have my thumbprint on my firearms ID card, references, and a NICS background check every time I want to purchase any firearm. Access is not so easy. Still, more fuel for anti-gun zealots.

    • Heretic

      Too bad others at the school didn't have easy access to a gun.