Root Causes of School Shootings in the United States
Gun violence remains one of the most prevalent problems in the United States. According to Rose (2018), from 2009 to 2018, the country had 288 school shootings, approximately 57 times more than the overall number of shootings in the remaining G7 countries combined. One of the root causes of school shootings in the United States is the lax laws concerning gun ownership and possession. Research suggests that school shootings occur more in states with fewer or no mandatory background checks than in states with strict background checks (Gius, 2018). Moreover, mental health plays a substantial role in school shootings.
Guis (2018) notes that states that dedicate significant financial support to the education sector and mental health spending have lower rates of shootings. The mother of a Columbine school shooter supports the notion that mental health plays a meaningful role in mass shootings perpetrated on school grounds (Klebold, 2016). Thus, nationwide prevention efforts should focus on ensuring children and adolescents get the mental health help and support they need and have limited or no access to firearms.
Key Findings from School Shooting Investigations
The research provided several informative insights into school shootings in the country. First, parents may not be aware of the mental health problems experienced by their children (Klebold, 2016). Similarly, in many cases, teachers and counselors fail to notice and address the indications of mental health problems in the students they work with. Second, no strong correlation was found between gun control regulations and decreased school shooting incidence. Specifically, it was found that the regulations concerning assault weapon acquisition were the most effective in preventing mass shootings (Gius, 2018).
Implications for Criminal Justice Prevention and Response
Therefore, criminal justice prevention measures should incorporate more exhaustive mental health help and support programs. In addition, it can be argued that further limitations on the sale and purchase of automatic and semi-automatic assault weapons, stricter background checks, and age limits should be implemented.
References
Gius, M. (2018). The effects of state and federal gun control laws on school shootings. Applied Economics Letters, 25(5), 317–320. Web.
Klebold, S. (2016). My son was a columbine shooter. This is my story [Video]. TED: Ideas Worth Spreading. Web.
Rose, C. G. (2018). The US has had 57 times as many school shootings as the other major industrialized nations combined. CNN. Web.