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

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

Armed pilots provide roadmap to securing schools

demondoghowls/wikimedia

When, in the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre, National Rifle Association President Wayne LaPierre called for armed security guards in schools, he faced widespread criticism from liberals who believe that fewer guns, not more, are the answer to the problem of mass killings. On the other side of the political spectrum, some conservatives argued that the cost of placing police officers in every school across the nation was too costly for a federal government that is already running trillion dollar deficits each year.

The concept of armed guards at schools was proven on Jan. 31, 2013 when an armed officer stopped a shooting at Price Middle School in Atlanta. A student had smuggled a gun past metal detectors and opened fire in the courtyard of the school, wounding a 14-year-old student in the neck before the officer was able to get the gun away from him according to CBS News.

Read the rest on Examiner:

http://www.examiner.com/article/experience-with-armed-pilots-can-help-secure-schools

 

Myths, lies and conspiracies about the Sandy Hook massacre

President Obama and Madeline Parker

Often after a violent event that leads to a dramatic shift in public opinion or government policy, conspiracy theories abound.  The Kennedy assassination, the moon landing, and the September 11 attacks all spawned numerous conspiracy theories.  Now the Sandy Hook school massacre in Newtown, Ct. is becoming fodder for the purveyors of conspiracies.

 

Second shooters and the man in camouflage

 

One of the first conspiracies about Sandy Hook is that there was a second shooter.  News coverage on the day of the murders showed a man in camouflage who had been arrested in the woods near the school.  Bystanders reported that the man said, “I didn’t do it,” but no information on the man’s identity was forthcoming.

 

Read the rest on Examiner:

http://www.examiner.com/article/myths-lies-and-conspiracies-about-the-sandy-hook-massacre?cid=db_articles

Obama gun control would not have prevented Newtown massacre

The president’s gun control would not keep guns like this one out of the hands of the mentally ill. (M62/Wikimedia)

Yesterday President Obama began the largest push for gun control in decades with a list of proposals for congressional action and series of Executive Orders that the president signed unilaterally. A comprehensive list of the president’s proposals in the New York Timesreveals that the president’s proposals would not have prevented most of the recent mass murders.

While the president’s wish list is long, it conspicuously excludes the one thing that could have prevented several of the recent shootings. President Obama and Vice President Biden did not ask congress to expand instant background checks to include mental health information. As a recentExaminer article discussed, most mass killers have a history or can be reasonably suspected of having mental illness.

Originally published on Examiner.com:

http://www.examiner.com/article/obama-gun-proposals-would-not-have-prevented-recent-shooting-sprees?cid=db_articles

 

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

Gun control not the answer to mass killings

Sandy Hook memorial (VOA/Wikimedia)

In the wake of last week’s school shooting in Newtown, Ct. there have been many renewed calls for gun control from the left. On Monday, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Ca.) said onMSNBC that she will introduce a bill to ban “assault weapons” and magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition. Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) called on President Obama to “exploit” the killings according to theWashington Times. Today, President Obama announced that Vice President Biden will head a group to craft new gun control policy and that the issue will become a second term priority. Many pro-gun Democrats, such as West Virginia’s Joe Manchin, are changing position.

The liberal position is that if there had only been more laws, Adam Lanza would not have been able to steal the guns that he used to kill 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School. A look at past mass killings indicates that the opposite may be true.

Read the rest on Examiner.com:
http://www.examiner.com/article/gun-control-may-make-shooting-sprees-worse?cid=db_articles

 

Courtesy of Jameela Barnette

A Marietta grandmother who mailed a package containing a bloody pig foot to N.Y. Rep. Peter King and a Curious George doll to N.Y. State Senator Greg Ball earlier this year was killed by police on Christmas Day at her home.  Her death came a few weeks after her indictment and plea of not guilty in federal court for mailing threatening communications.  The federal judge had ordered her to undergo a psychiatric evaluation according to WSB TV.  She was reportedly out on bond.

According to reports of the incident, Jameela Barnette, 53, a self-described “Messenger of Allah,” was killed by Cobb County police officers responding to a panic alert triggered from her apartment.  Barnette allegedly attacked the officers with a gun and a knife when they responded to the alarm.  The officers shot her in the course of defending themselves.

Read this article on Examiner.com:

http://www.examiner.com/conservative-in-atlanta/woman-who-mailed-pig-foot-talked-to-examiner-before-police-shooting