Aug. 14, 2019 – 3:50 – Judge Napolitano’s Chambers: Judge Andrew Napolitano weighs in on the dangers to the Second Amendment by both political parties in the wake of mass shootings. What confiscating guns or Red Flag laws will mean for your Constitutional rights.
Oxford – “A person who strongly identifies with their own nation and vigorously supports its interests, especially to the exclusion or detriment of the interests of other nations.” <- Maybe I wasn't paying close enough attention the first time. When was that added or changed? Knowing how the left operates, right after Trump was elected.....
American Psychological Association – August 4, 2016
“Media Contagion” Is Factor in Mass Shootings, Study Says
Psychologist calls on media to withhold shooters’ names
DENVER — People who commit mass shootings in America tend to share three traits: rampant depression, social isolation and pathological narcissism, according to a paper presented at the American Psychological Association’s annual convention that calls on the media to deny such shooters the fame they seek.
“Mass shootings are on the rise and so is media coverage of them,” said Jennifer B. Johnston, PhD, of Western New Mexico University. “At this point, can we determine which came first? Is the relationship merely unidirectional: More shootings lead to more coverage? Or is it possible that more coverage leads to more shootings?”
Johnston and her coauthor, Andrew Joy, BS, also of Western New Mexico University, reviewed data on mass shootings amassed by media outlets, the FBI and advocacy organizations, as well as scholarly articles, to conclude that “media contagion” is largely responsible for the increase in these often deadly outbursts. They defined mass shootings as either attempts to kill multiple people who are not relatives or those resulting in injuries or fatalities in public places.
The prevalence of these crimes has risen in relation to the mass media coverage of them and the proliferation of social media sites that tend to glorify the shooters and downplay the victims, Johnston said.
“We suggest that the media cry to cling to ‘the public’s right to know’ covers up a greedier agenda to keep eyeballs glued to screens, since they know that frightening homicides are their No. 1 ratings and advertising boosters,” she said.
The demographic profile of mass shooters is fairly consistent, she said. Most are white, ostensibly heterosexual males, largely between the ages of 20 and 50. They tend to see themselves as “victims of injustice,” and share a belief that they have been cheated out of their rightful dominant place as white, middle-class males.
“Unfortunately, we find that a cross-cutting trait among many profiles of mass shooters is desire for fame,” she said. This quest for fame among mass shooters skyrocketed since the mid-1990s “in correspondence to the emergence of widespread 24-hour news coverage on cable news programs, and the rise of the internet during the same period.”
She cited several media contagion models, most notably one proposed by Towers et al. (2015), which found the rate of mass shootings has escalated to an average of one every 12.5 days, and one school shooting on average every 31.6 days, compared to a pre-2000 level of about three events per year. “A possibility is that news of shooting is spread through social media in addition to mass media,” she said.
“If the mass media and social media enthusiasts make a pact to no longer share, reproduce or retweet the names, faces, detailed histories or long-winded statements of killers, we could see a dramatic reduction in mass shootings in one to two years,” she said. “Even conservatively, if the calculations of contagion modelers are correct, we should see at least a one-third reduction in shootings if the contagion is removed.”
She said this approach could be adopted in much the same way as the media stopped reporting celebrity suicides in the mid-1990s after it was corroborated that suicide was contagious. Johnston noted that there was “a clear decline” in suicide by 1997, a couple of years after the Centers for Disease Control convened a working group of suicidologists, researchers and the media, and then made recommendations to the media.
“The media has come together before to work for good, to incite social change,” she said. “They have done, and they can do it. It is time. It is enough.”
Session 1246: ”Mass Shooters and the Media Contagion Effect,” (PDF, 265KB) Symposium, Thursday, Aug. 4, 1-2:50 p.m. MDT, Mile High Ballroom 4F Level 3, Ballroom Level, Colorado Convention Center, 700 14th Street, Denver.
Presentations are available from the APA Public Affairs Office.
Jennifer Johnston can be contacted by email or by phone at (575) 654-0052.
For the record: I haven’t given up on the NRA… yet. I’m still hopeful they can get their shit together before it’s too late!
There are certain things that can pass for Made in China. Hats aren’t one of them! First off, they never fit right! Get Propper Hats!
Universal Studios recently released a trailer for the movie, “The Hunt,” originally named “Red State Vs. Blue State.” The trailer shows elites hunting and killing pro-life, Trump supporting “deplorables.”
Realtor Dawna Hetzler has a concealed carry permit, and said she was attacked by a man wielding a knife and bear spray during an open house.
COMMERCE CITY, Colo. — What happened Sunday morning was a moment Dawna Hetzler said she had trained for, but never believed would actually happen.
“I like to believe the best in people,” the longtime realtor said three days after calling Commerce City Police to report she was threatened at knifepoint by a man during an open house.
The perpetrator is still on the loose after Hetzler, who said she has a concealed carry permit, fired gunshots in his direction, scaring him away. Police could not say if they believe the man was wounded.
“My life was in danger, and if I did not have my firearm, I would not be here to talk to you,” Hetzler said.
According to the Commerce City Police Department, the incident happened in broad daylight – at 11:30 a.m. Sunday – in a home near East 104th Avenue and Chambers Road.
Hetzler said the man arrived shortly after she started setting up for the open house. At the time, she said she thought nothing of it.
“He asked the right questions,” Hetzler said. “We talked about loans, what he had to qualify for.”
She said he picked up a brochure for the property and asked to see the upstairs. While they were in the master bedroom, Hetzler said he took a knife out as well as a small, six-inch piece of rope that apparently had bear spray tethered to it.
“The said, ‘This is a knife, this is bear spray.’ After he said, ‘This is bear spray,’ he asked me to take out off my ring and get into the closet,” Hetzler said.
This was when Hetzler said she began to fear for her life. She said she drew her gun, and the man responded by dousing her with bear spray.
“I couldn’t see,” she said. “My skin was burning, my eyes were on fire, I couldn’t see, so I fired.”
After the man ran away, Hetzler said she went downstairs and tried to find her phone, her vision obscured by bear spray. She called 911 and was later taken to the hospital. Days later, Hetzler said the residue from the bear spray still burns.
“Our men and women in blue helped me tremendously that day, and I am so grateful for their service,” Hetzler said.
She said she shared her story with the media on Wednesday morning in hopes that it will help police find the man who attacked her. A published author and blogger, Hetzler said her other goal is for her story to inspire women.
“It’s still very surreal,” Hetzler said. “You train for something like that but you pray you never have to do it.”
The Commerce City Police Department is working to release a sketch of the suspect in the case. At this point, he is described as a white man who is around 6 feet tall. Police said he could have a neck tattoo and a blond beard.
Anyone with information about his identity or whereabouts is asked to call the Commerce City Police Department at 303-289-3626.
Obviously estimated number of firearms is fictitious. And we all plan to help keep it that way because it’s none of their damn business! 🙂
