The FBI recently released a report after studying 160 ‘shooting incidents’ from 2000 to 2013. They came to the understanding that most of the shootings took place at either a school or workplace. However, the most damning piece of news to come out of the study is that mass shootings have been on a very sharp upswing since 2007.

According to the report, an average of six shooting incidents occurred in the first seven years that were studied. That average rose to more than 16 per year in the last seven years of the study.

Since the report was released, a lot of people have been blaming the increase in shootings on whatever their pet cause is, whether it be gun culture, video games, or the media. I am no different except I like to think that my pet causes make a little more sense.

Again, as the dead horse I continue to beat, a lot of these gunmen were mentally ill. While not excusing their actions it does tell us that, in my opinion, that they may be too afraid to seek treatment due to the stigma that is still placed on seeking mental healthcare in our society. Let’s be honest, if you had a friend or co-worker who confided in you that they were seeking mental health treatment for whatever reason, most of you would not only look at them differently, but you’d probably start going out of your way to avoid them.

There’s also the other side of the mental health coin too. When does the safety of the public outweigh the ‘feelings’ of the criminally and violently insane? Because that’s what it’s come to, that we don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings by telling them they need to be committed.

The next reason is that as each year passes, our society becomes more and more entitled. Too many people think that they’re special, invaluable snowflakes who are owed by the world. Let me tell you something: the world doesn’t owe you shit. I had bad grades in school. Was it every teacher’s fault? No, it was mine because I wouldn’t apply myself. I’ve been out of work for the better part of a year; I can’t get hired to save my life. Is that my former employers’ fault? No, it’s mine, and I’m trying to better myself so that I can get hired on somewhere. In either of those cases, what I didn’t do is commit a mass violent atrocity. If things suck in your life, there’s a good chance that it’s your fault. You can either blame everyone else or suck it up and try to do better. Killing a bunch of people shows just how incapable you are of being a rational adult.

The last reason is because of misinformation. True journalism is dead. It’s more important now to be first rather than true. After every mass shooting, how much false information is spread through the internet? How much of that misinformation is believed as fact afterward? How many mass shooters have identified with previous mass shooters because of that misinformation? The answer to all of those questions is too many.

So what’s the solution? There isn’t one. It’s too late. We’ve become a society of gullible, emotional, narcissistic, and ignorant marks. It’s going to get much worse and will never get better.