Mass Shooting or Massacre?

Prologue

I am, unapologetically, a constitutional conservative. As a nation, I believe we have strayed from our constitutional republic roots in the pursuit of “progress.”

That said, I slept, when I did sleep, only fitfully after hearing of the Uvalde atrocity yesterday, as I am certain, did most of America. In the intervals of semi-wakefulness, I thought about how we might prevent occurrences like Columbine, Sandy Hook, Parkland, and Uvalde, and well as similar incidents.

The Sandy Hook, Parkland and Uvalde atrocities are abhorrent particularly because they involve our young preying on the most vulnerable of our citizenry, who are their kin. These incidents evoke our raw emotions as the least guilty among us become victims through actions we feel we could have prevented–if only we had done something.

From these emotions of innocents lost spring our resolve to do something that will prevent them from happening again.

Manipulating Semantics

Mass Shooting

Since Sandy Hook, the term “mass shooting” is used to categorize the atrocities committed at Sandy Hook, Buffalo, and elsewhere. Broadcast media, pundits, and politicos parrot the term to exploit its implications, both explicit and tacit.

“Mass shooting” is a criminal justice term coined to succinctly define an event, just as does “vehicular homicide.” Such terms describe scope and infraction, or means and infraction. As such, they are descriptive and antiseptic, only suitable for after-action reports, and other post-incident analyses. The term “mass shooting” intentionally implies a specific tool is the means for the infraction–a firearm.

§ Exploitation of the term “mass shooting” by broadcast media, pundits, and politicos often imply like atrocities can be eliminated by eliminating the tool.

Massacre

§ “Massacre,” on the other hand, connotes an abhorrently deviant act by a person or persons, and implies such an act is contrary to society’s moral sensitivities. “Massacre” entails personal responsibility, and assigns the responsibility for the atrocity to the perpetrator, where it belongs.

Averting Targeted School Violence

The Secret Service published a report in 2021 analyzing targeted threats of violence against schools, and how to avert them. It included the warning signs for potential violent offenders. This is one of the must read reports.

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