Summary: A thorough examination of all known school shootings in the United States reveals that the majority of guns were raised in social settings where guns were a key component of family unity and identity. These social definitions of love, excitement, and belonging made firearms readily available to shooters—often without barriers at house.
In many cases, parents either bought the weapons they used or kept them in locations their kids had access. The findings demonstrate that weapon culture wasn’t really background context; it was a fundamental component of the lives of the shooters, shaping both their identities and access to dangerous weapons.
Important Information
- Cultural Bonding: Some shooters referred to guns as being a form of identity, love, or friendship.
- Simple Entry: All shooters had unlimited access to firearms, which were frequently provided or made possible by their families.
- Focus on Prevention: The investigation recommends focusing on enhancing student belonging and reducing gun access.
PLOS One Resource
A recent study of American school shootings suggests that the majority of shooters had a cultural background where they had a significant amount of attachment to their loved ones, which in turn led to easy access to firearms. These findings are presented in the open-access journal PLOS One on April 23, 2025, by Anne Nassauer of the University of Erfurt, Germany.
Weapons are the primary cause of death for U.S. minors. In some cases, victims of school shootings are killed by current or former students who intentionally target other students at their institutions. The distinctive gun culture of the United States is frequently used as a causal component in discussions of school shootings.
However, very few studies have painstakingly examined the influence of gun culture on the lives of college shooters.
To solve this difference, Nassauer analyzed all acknowledged U.S. school shootings throughout the country’s past (83 cases ), some of which resulted in several deaths and some with many.
She created a situation folder for each shooter using information from court, officers, and media records to examine whether any patterns in firearm culture could be found.
The research suggests that a specific area of American gun culture is crucial to the lives of school shooters. In particular, the majority of the snipers in the research came from a cultural background where guns were frequently crucial for family bonding time, usually from a young age.
Some shooters referred to guns as their “only pal” or as” the love of their life.”
Notably, all guns in the research had no trouble obtaining the weapons they used in the class shootings.
According to the analysis, the ease of access may have been a result of the historical significances that guns were given by shooters in their cultural settings, such as fun, bonding, and belonging, which led to practices that made it easier to get guns.
For example, some parents had purchased the weapons their kids used to shoot the college, while others kept them in easily accessible areas of their homes.
According to the findings, research on how to stop school shootings could concentrate on finding ways to foster scholar belonging and on making guns more difficult to access for kids.
The author continues,” Every school shooter in U.S. story had easy access to the weapons they used, even those who were very fresh or severely mentally ill.” Some people came from a culture where guns are used as symbols of love, friendship, and personality. The guns ‘ homes were frequently free of the arms.
This research demonstrates that many college shooters develop into adults with identities and belongings in settings where guns are a key component. Gun lifestyle is a significant component of the lives of several school shooters because it serves as a backdrop.
Guns were” the love of their life,” or” the only friend” for some school guns. Without understanding how weapons culture shapes youngsters identities and access to guns, we didn’t know school shootings.
Weapons make school shootings possible, but they don’t, and often very easily. There has never been a second class shooting in the US where a shooter encountered problems obtaining a weapon.
” So we have to ask: Why do they only do it when they have quick access to guns?” Because they are” not within easy achieve,” are another potential shooters deterred?
About this news article on gun crime and philosophy
Author: Hanna Abdallah
Source: PLOS
Contact: Hanna Abdallah – PLOS
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Start access to original study.
” The only friend I had was my gun,” according to Anne Nassauer and al. in” A mixed-methods study of gun culture in school shootings.” PLOS One
Abstract
A mixed-methods investigation of cannon culture in class shootings:” The only friend I had was my gun.”
The occurrence of school killings is frequently cited as evidence that firearms are the leading cause of death for adolescents in the United States.
Do class shooters show a distinctive weapon culture, though, some studies carefully examine whether there is a connection between the two.
This article examines weapons culture in practice during school shootings. It examines whether school shooters exhibit different definitions and practices prior to the shooting as well as designs in how people access firearms.
In order to do this, I analyze every single instance of a US college shooting. I combine cross-case analyses with descriptive statistics and publicly accessible court, police, and media data.
Findings suggest that the majority of college shooters originate in a social environment where using weapons is a necessary leisure pastime and has a significance for affection, friendship, and bonding. All school guns had easy access to the weapons they used, according to how these meaning were applied.
Findings support research into sociologists of traditions, youth violence, public health, and firearms.
