Mass Killings Under The Eyes of Media and Laws

“There Are No Lessons To Be Learned From Littleton” is an essay written by Gary Kleck, a professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Florida State University, about the matter of school mass shootings involving teenage boys. By reviewing the 1999 incident at a high school in Littleton, Colorado, Kleck explains his disagreement with the news media and the lawmakers in the way they deal with the happened situation.
In his essay, Kleck reveals that it is a “mistake to diagnose the causes of violence and crime” (354) immediately after a highly publicized violent event such as the mass shooting in Littleton. He points out some sufficient information such as the students’ behaviors, the schools’ roles, the parents’ responsibilities, etc that the news media does not include as they blame guns as the key contributing factor to these cluster of mass shootings. Despite the recent statistics show the declining violence of youth, school, and gun, the media st...