Elliot Rodger was similar to other spree killers

By now, most are familiar with the story of Elliot Rodger, the Santa Barbara mass murderer who killed six people last weekend before turning his gun on himself. Rodger’s loneliness, angst and longing for meaningless sex are now well known. What may be less well known is that Rodger shared many characteristics with a number of other recent spree killers.

 

As Examiner reported last year, a number of features are common in the random mass killings that seem prevalent in recent years. First, almost all of the mass killers are known to be habitual players of violent video games. Second, the killer often comes from a broken family. Finally, in most cases, the killer can be reasonably determined to have undiagnosed or untreated mental illness.  Elliot Rodger fits into all three categories.

 

Read the full story on Atlanta Conservative Examiner

Navy Yard killer shared traits with other rampage murderers

Aaron Alexis

Already there are voices calling for increased gun control in the wake of Aaron Alexis’ murders of 12 people in the Washington Navy Yard yesterday. As Examiner reported, traditional gun control seems to be counterproductive in reducing crimes and mass killings, but an analysis of this and other shootings reveals several common threads between many perpetrators of rampage killings. Diagnoses are made more difficult by the fact that the killers in many of the rampages are often killed themselves, but in many cases, the killer had been diagnosed with some form of mental illness or can plausibly be considered to have an undiagnosed mental illness. Other factors, such as video games, movies, or broken families are also common.

Aaron Alexis is reported to have been undergoing treatment for mental illness with the Veterans Administration according to the Washington Times. The report indicates that Alexis had reported hearing voices in his head and suffered from paranoia. NBC Newsreports that Alexis had two prior arrests for gun related crimes. In 2004, he allegedly shot out the tires of another man’s car during “an anger-fueled ‘blackout’” in Seattle. In 2010, he was arrested in Texas for shooting his gun through the ceiling of his apartment. The bullet went through his ceiling into the apartment upstairs. Alexis told police that the shooting was accidental. According to Seattle police, Alexis was present at the September 11 attacks and was an “active participant in rescue attempts” [at the World Trade Center according to the Telegraph] and may have suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

 

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Atlanta shooter had record of mental illness and crime

DeKalb Sheriff

The 20-year-old man who walked into a Decatur elementary school yesterday had a history of mental illness and a criminal record according to his brother. Michael Brandon Hill was arrested after he fired several shots at police and briefly held several employees hostage at the Ronald E. McNair Discovery Learning Center.

Timothy Hill, brother of the alleged shooter, told WSB TV (view parts one and two of the interview) that Michael Hill had a long history of mental illness. According to his brother, Hill was placed on Adderall, a drug commonly used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), at the age of six. He had a history of behavioral problems in school starting at age 13.

Read the rest on  Atlanta Conservative Examiner

Real gun reform would focus on mentally ill

Memorial to the victims of the Newtown massacre. Like Adam Lanza, most perpetrators of mass killings have a history of mental illness. (VOA/Wikimedia)

When President Obama announced his new gun control initiative today, he recycled a traditional liberal wish list of band-aid solutions to the problem of gun violence. Most of the proposals, such as a ban on so-called “assault weapons” and “high capacity magazines,” have been tried and have failed to curb violence in numerous locations.

Solutions are made more difficult by the fact that the killers in many of the rampages are killed either by their own hand or by police making it difficult to ascribe motives, but in many cases common elements can be determined. In most of the shootings, the killer had been diagnosed with some form of mental illness or can plausibly be considered to have an undiagnosed mental illness. Other factors, such as video games, movies, or broken families are also common.

Read the rest on Examiner.com:
http://www.examiner.com/article/new-gun-laws-should-focus-on-mental-illness?cid=db_articles

Bipartisan congressmen want more gun control after Tucson

This man is not an easy target for criminals. (USMC)

Public opinion in Georgia overwhelmingly favors second amendment rights. The issue of gun control was noticeably absent from the platforms of most Georgia Democratic candidates in the last election. Nevertheless, gun control remains a popular initiative in some parts of the country.

“David’s Law” states that any prominent violent crime will be followed by an attempt to pass more gun control laws. This is true even if the crime does not involve a gun. True to form, it took only a few days after Jared Lee Loughner killed six and wounded thirteen people, including Representative Gabrielle Giffords and Judge John Roll, for a bipartisan group of congressmen to issue proposals for new gun control measures. In the two years of the Obama presidency, gun control measures have been surprisingly absent as the Democratic majority focused on expanding government control over the economy and increasing discretionary spending, however my February 2009 prediction that the Obama Administration would usher in new restrictions on guns and ammunition may finally be put to the test.

Continue reading on Examiner.com: Bipartisan group pushes gun control after Tucson shooting – Atlanta Conservative | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/conservative-in-atlanta/bipartisan-group-pushes-gun-control-after-tucson-shooting#ixzz1B9bTDsVb

Public opinion in Georgia overwhelmingly favors second amendment rights. The issue of gun control was noticeably absent from the platforms of most Georgia Democratic candidates in the last election. Nevertheless, gun control remains a popular initiative in some parts of the country.

“David’s Law” states that any prominent violent crime will be followed by an attempt to pass more gun control laws. This is true even if the crime does not involve a gun. True to form, it took only a few days after Jared Lee Loughner killed six and wounded thirteen people, including Representative Gabrielle Giffords and Judge John Roll, for a bipartisan group of congressmen to issue proposals for new gun control measures. In the two years of the Obama presidency, gun control measures have been surprisingly absent as the Democratic majority focused on expanding government control over the economy and increasing discretionary spending, however my February 2009 prediction that the Obama Administration would usher in new restrictions on guns and ammunition may finally be put to the test.

Continue reading on Examiner.com: Bipartisan group pushes gun control after Tucson shooting – Atlanta Conservative | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/conservative-in-atlanta/bipartisan-group-pushes-gun-control-after-tucson-shooting#ixzz1B9bTDsVb