Texas School shooting 19 children and 2 adults murdered

I am not interested in innocent school children, I am interested in why he did what he did.

Gun culture is a contributing factor but probably not the reason why the guy went on a rampage.

Parents, Teachers, Peers, Police, Social Media,...one if not all played a role, I'm not sure he even identified as a he going by some of the pictures out there, kid was confused, it's how he got to that point is what needs to be understood.

The why is fairly secondary here. If the country wasn't awash with guns, then his ability to go on any kind of rampage would be very limited. This wouldn't be international news and a small Texas town would be talking about how a young man stabbed his grandmother before crashing his car and being arrested by the cops.

But really the other side of the coin - why so many rampages happen in the US - is the neo-libertarian "every man for himself" culture that has grown in the US since the end of WW2. This creates enormous pressures on young men in particular to be successful at everything, all the time, and without anyone's help. And if you're not, it's all your fault, you're the loser.

Coupled with a lack of and continuously reducing social support, means enormous amounts of unchecked mental illness because people can't or won't seek out help. Put these two together, and you have the perfect recipe for someone who is ready to go out on a rampage.

In other countries, he might grab a knife or two on his way out the door. In America, they make sure he has at least one gun in his hand first.

I think the 'why' is effectively the primary thing because it's sadly a given at this stage that America will never significantly overhaul its gun laws. Therefore the 'why' is all you're left to work with.

America has always had plenty of access to guns, and it has presumably always had young men with mental/emotional issues a severe nature, yet it hasn't always had these kinds of regular mass shootings.

There is a 3rd factor at play, here, I think. You have the guns, you have the angry young men, but you also have a culture that glorifies a mass shooter. Go to the article on the Columbine shooting. You'll read a lot more about the perpetrators and the weapons they used than the victims who were killed.

Not that I'm attempting to deflect blame in any way from the guns themselves. If America could have tighter gun control laws, I think things would improve, but if they're not prepared to shift after all the atrocities that have taken place, it's likely that nothing will ever, ever change, there, so the only thing left to do is have conversations about mental health provisions and the culture which has sprung up around these kinds of incidents.

Of course I am interested in the “why”. And I find it rather astonishing that you are dismissing it entirely.

I have noticed on boards a tendency for the indefensible to be defended by newly created accounts. Ukraine/Russia, Climate change, Anti-vacc, American penis substitute laws.

It is almost as if people paid to support certain political agendas wait for these profound events to happen and create accounts to lie.

AMERICA PENIS SUBSTITUTE LAWS? what

it the same loser who keeps trolling, most threads are started by them, they are most likely being paid by the tax payer

Yes, Penis substitute laws. Defend the indefensible and I will ridicule.

A normal person in a normal society has no reason to own a gun. In the last decade I have seen perhaps 1 gun in Ireland.

Inadequate people require penis substitutes or man toys because they feel the need to reinforce their inadequate masculinity.

I'm a gun owner. Am I not a normal person? You'd better inform the Gardai, my wife, my work colleagues, my doctor etc. that I'm not normal.

You obviously have been very sheltered if you've only seen one gun in Ireland in the last decade. There are almost 200k legally held firearms in Ireland. On an average weekend, I'd see at least 100 guns. By the way, I own guns for target shooting. My sport. It's actually an Olympic sport.

There are other reasons for owning guns too, such as hunting, vermin control etc.

I must notifiy the Irish Farmers Association that most of their members aren't normal and have no reason to own a gun. Their members (farmers) are the largest gun owning body in the Country.