GOA does not dignify mass killers by publicly using their names or sharing their stories and pictures with our audience. Why are we doing that? Well, over the course of this video, I'll explain and propose some other ideas that could actually work to stop these type of events from happening. Hi, I'm Ben and you're watching The Minuteman moment. Before we get into the video, I just wanted to take a second to let you know to sign up for Goa's alerts. It's free and our alerts will keep you in the loop for gun control that could be coming in your state or that could affect you. On the federal level, our alerts allow us to let you know who to contact and what to say to stop these attacks. On the Second Amendment, it's time to get involved and work together, defend our rights onto the video.
Ben Sanderson (00:38):
Like I said earlier, GOA does not name the killer, nor do we share any photos or personal details. Now, that doesn't mean that we won't discuss these type of events or push back on the gun control narrative that disrupts productive conversation on solutions, but it's overwhelmingly clear to us that these killers seek the infamy that comes along with these shootings, and we as a society must work together to deny them what they seek. How do we know this? Well, according to University of Alabama criminologist, Adam Langford, who has studied mass killers for more than a decade, mass killers receive more media attention than winning a Super Bowl or receiving an Academy Award. The media is literally rewarding these killers. Again. According to Langford seven mass killings recorded from 2013 to 2017 received $75 million in free media coverage. That's more media coverage than famous people like Kim Kardashian or Brad Pitt get.
Ben Sanderson (01:26):
In addition to this, the FBI claimed in a study from 2017 that these s seek media coverage to cement their legacies that they hope to achieve. The Columbine killers famously argued about who would direct the movie based on their acts of violence. It's obvious that the potential for fame is quite the draw for these maniacs. The media also rewards high body counts with more coverage, longer articles, and more detail. For example, journalism professor Nicole Smith Domon found that after analyzing nearly 4,000 articles about mass killings, the data showed that incidents with more victims like Sandy Hook or Virginia Tech were giving significantly more coverage than an incident with fewer victims like the Umpqua Community College attack. See, the problem here, the media unknowingly or not makes mass killers into celebrity role models who are then worshiped as Gods heroes or kindred spirits by people who then go on to commit mass killings of their own. So what can we do about it? We know that these mass killings often occur in states with heavy restriction on guns, but we also know that they do occur in states with very little gun control as well. This is a clear indication that this isn't a gun control issue, but don't just take it from us. Here's vice presidential nominee JD Vance saying the exact same thing.
JD Vance, VP Candidate 2024 (02:31):
Now, look, the Kamala Harris answer to this is to take law abiding American citizens guns away from him. That is what Kamala Harris wants to do, but we have to ask ourselves, we actually have been able to run an experiment on this because you've got some states with very strict gun laws, and you've got some states that don't have strict gun laws at all, and the states with strict gun laws, they have a lot of school shootings and the states without strict gun laws. Some of them have school shootings too. So clearly strict gun laws is not the thing that is going to solve this problem. What is going to solve this problem? And I really do believe this is, look, I don't like this. I don't like to admit this. I don't like that this is a fact of life, but if you are a psycho and you want to make headlines, you realize that our schools are soft targets and we have got to bolster security at our schools so that a person who walks through the front door, we've got to bolster security so that if a psycho wants to walk through the front door and kill a bunch of children, they're not able to.
Ben Sanderson (03:31):
Anytime there's a mass public killing, we see the billionaire funded gun control lobby and their paid advocates spring into action to say it's the guns. The problem with that is that because of how loud and inflammatory they are about their views, we get into a debate about gun control instead of thinking about real solutions. To illustrate this point, here's a clip from the legendary Paul Harrell May Rest in Peace.
Paul (03:51):
This particular fiction that guns exist now and guns adequate to the task didn't exist back then that guns are easier to get now than they were back then is, in my opinion, the most destructive of the four barriers to effective communication. Because just about any time anyone brings up the question, why are these mass shootings occur, someone will immediately say, because guns are so easy to get, okay. When you do that, it always turns into a debate about gun control when it really shouldn't be. When you do that, you're perpetrating a fiction and instead of having a meaningful dialogue, we all have to stop and refute your fiction.
Ben Sanderson (04:39):
So now that we've established that guns aren't the issue and that this isn't even a gun control debate, what can we do to stop mass killers? First off, we need to abolish gun-free zones and harden any soft targets like schools that are often targets for these attacks. Mass killers prefer a soft target where they know nobody is armed and they'll encounter no resistance. Take for example, the mass killing at the movie theater in Aurora, Colorado. The killer specifically chose the only theater near him that had a no guns policy or take the mass killing at the Nashville Covenant School, which the killer chose because of the lack of security. Even in the most recent incidents in Georgia, the killer immediately surrendered after being engaged by an armed school resource officer.
Law Enforcement Spokesperson (05:20):
Obviously, the shooter was armed and our school resource officer engaged him, and the shooter quickly realized that if he did not give up, that it would end with an OIS or an officer involved shooting. He gave up, got on the ground, and the deputy took him into custody.
Ben Sanderson (05:40):
Knowing that these people prefer to encounter no resistance, we shouldn't make it easy for them. This is why the movement to remove police from schools often called school resource officers or SROs is mind bogglingly stupid.
Kamala Harris, VP and Presidential Candidate 2024 (05:52):
And so part of my plan is also a reduction of that and then also again what we need to do about demilitarizing our schools and taking police officers out of schools.
Ben Sanderson (06:07):
To further illustrate why SROs are important, just take one. Florida County's approach to preventing mass public killings. They have a dedicated unit to investigating school threats. This unit has apparently investigated over 800 threats just this year. They're a small but mighty team aimed
Master Deputy Elizabeth Baker (06:22):
At keeping schools safe.
Ben Sanderson (06:23):
It's the School Threat Assessment and Response Unit for Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office,
Master Deputy Elizabeth Baker (06:28):
And if you're wondering why a school threat unit is needed, it's because just this year, nearly 800 school threats were made that warranted an investigation.
Major Darrin Barlow (06:37):
Approximately 10 arrests so far. Fortunately, the vast majority of the threats that they have looked into were not credible.
Ben Sanderson (06:47):
Another constitutional way to harden schools and help prevent these situations would be to arm willing teachers. There have been zero shootings at any school where teachers are armed. Of course, the most effective deterrent of mass killings is to repeal gun-free zones and let law abiding Americans carry firearms in schools, churches, and other gun-free zones that have become target of choice for deranged killers. Lastly, the medium must focus on the heroes of these types of stories. A study performed in 2018 found that readers of these types of stories were significantly more interested in reading about the heroes of these stories. Who stopped the killers than the killers themselves? I'm going to read you a very powerful quote from Dr. Jordan Peterson that perfectly illustrates this. We could choose as a society to make mass shootings exceedingly rare as they once were. However, doing so will acquire the press and anyone else who has the attention of a wide swath of the public to withhold from the mass shooters what they all desperately and murderously desire, fame As a practicing clinical and research psychologist, and as someone who has studied the darkest recesses of the human psyche for 40 years, I can state with near certainty that wannabe mass shooters would cease wreaking havoc on the innocent in society at large.
Ben Sanderson (07:54):
If we stop rewarding them with the notoriety, they will sacrifice anything to obtain. Now, this stands in complete contrast with the current media strategy of foking almost entirely on the killers. This is why GOA supports Senator Mike Lee and representative Andy Ogle concurrent resolution calling on the media to engage in responsible journalistic practices denying mass public murders the attention they desire. Congress should pass this resolution and the media should adopt it. Its proposed guidelines voluntarily. Let's deny mass killers the satisfaction they horrifically desire. So call your elected representatives and let them know that there is something we can do about these tragedies now. Thanks for watching. Be sure to comment and subscribe to stay up to date with G's. Latest fights for your rights.
Credit: Ben Sanderson, Gun Owners of America