Going in a slightly different direction, there was a good article back in August from the New York Times that hypothesized that the decline in serial killings (due to advances in forensic science and other tech in catching serial killers), may have channeled the sociopaths towards single incident mass shootings: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/06/nyregion/serial-killers-gilgo-beach-rex-heuermann.html Twilight of the Serial Killer: Cases Like Gilgo Beach Become Ever Rarer Serial murders have dwindled, thanks to a cautious citizenry and improved technology. But sociopaths have found new methods of mayhem. . . . . In 1987, there were 198 known active serial killers — people connected to at least two murders — and 404 known victims across the United States, according to a report published three years ago by researchers who run Radford University and Florida Gulf Coast University’s Serial Killer Database. By 2018, there were only 12 known serial killers and 44 victims, according to the report. “The big question is: Are they going underground and finding other techniques?” said Terence Leary, an associate professor in the psychology department at Florida Gulf Coast University and the team leader for the database. He said that some serial murderers have killed for discrete periods before taking prolonged breaks: “Maybe they decided to give it up. Who knows?” As the American way of killing has changed, experts are continuing to refine who should be classified as a serial killer and who a “spree killer” or a mass shooter. They make distinctions among grim data points like the number of victims and the lag between murders. Spree killings and mass murders occur when someone kills several people in a brief period or single episode, while serial killings can span years. Serial killers’ motives are often deeply seated in the psyche: sex, anger and a desire for control. While mass shootings have increased, many committed by teenagers, serial killings have apparently diminished. But both are committed by “criminal psychopaths,” Mr. Leary said. Some people who might once have become serial killers might instead be choosing a single fatal gesture, he said. Both categories of people display antisocial personality disorder, he said, meaning that they manipulate and violate people without guilt. “It’s very possible that a shift is taking place,” Mr. Leary said. The two practices also reflect their respective eras. Mass killers today have taken to livestreaming massacres and leaving behind manifestoes. Serial killers, who flourished in an age before social media, operated clandestinely in many cases. The serial killer who buried his victims near Gilgo Beach was careful to try to hide his crimes. He bound his victims with tape or belts and wrapped them in shrouds of camouflage-patterned burlap. . . . .
Congress should pass an Act that all weapons are treated the same as how Title II weapons are treated under NFA.
Here are a list of twitter accounts the alleged shooter is alleged to have followed... perhaps it gives a sense of what he is interested in...
Other countries made it work, so can we. I know, hundreds of millions weapons out there, blah blah. It's cool if you support having weapons, but that means you are okay with the risk they bring, which includes mass shootings. I'm sure banning ARs could be a step in the right direction, but yeah, I'm all for 2A being abolished.
I hope they get this *******, or that he has taken himself out. And I hope the USA outlaw these AR-15 type guns. It's pure insanity that people can buy this. In combination with the rise in mental health problems, it's so dangerous to all of us. How can they not see this.
I just hope he doesn't kill any more innocent people before they catch him. They will catch him. The only question will be if he kills himself or gets killed.
Reports are that he was "hearing voices" (that likely were dangerous to others) and it was concerning enough for his unit commander to send him to psychiatric treatment this past summer and for his family to reach out to the police and his Army Reserve base. However, Maine doesn't have a "red flag" law. There is no universal background check anywhere, there is a lack of mental health care everywhere, and there is pretty much no "mental health" criteria for buying guns. Basically, 2A zealots have made it very easy for anyone to get a gun, even someone that shows clear signs of mental illness that are dangerous to themselves or others. Claiming these shootings are due to mental health issues (often right) but doing nothing about restricting guns on the basis of mental health issues or improving access to mental healthcare = we don't give a f*** about these shootings.
