Ignoring the Lesson

Gary Kleck’s essay There are no Lessons to be Learned from Littleton, criticizes the  solutions government officials conjured up after several  publicized high-school massacres.   Journalists, and “…other writers of every ideological stripe explained to their readers what lessons were to be learned from Littleton or, more broadly, from this cluster of massacres” (Kleck, 211).  Unfortunately these lessons or causes and solutions were put in place because they simply fit the media theme which was a “trend” in youth/school/gun violence” (212).  In addition, because these crimes are publicized in lots of detail to a very large audience it becomes a believeable message.   However, in actuality, the ‘trend’ in school gun violence shows a decline which would suggest that the media treated the incident for the wrong disease.   Thus, the disease could return when we least expect it.

How could no lessons be learned from such horrific events.  Kleck points out that “… the more bizarre an event, the less likely it is to be repeated” (212) so creating solutions is much harder to do.  However, in a 'normal' shooting there are patterns  so solutions are possible. .  However what does  appear to be consistent in these multiple massacres is: the media attention they receive, the emotional state of the population viewing the event on TV or listening to it on a radio, and  finally, the public outcry for an immediate solution.  But, as Kleck points out “frightened people often favor actions that make them feel better over those that would actually make them safer, if the actions can be implemented quickly and easily and are touted as producing results immediately” (215) which can lead to the wrong solution.  For example in the Littleton case analysts proposed restricting the sale of guns at gun shows even though  the guns used in the event were not purchased at a gun show and therefore had nothing to do with the Littleton massacre.  Or, after the West Paducah massacre the newspaper “… reported that the school system was  considering installing metal detectors “ (213).  However, in the Paducah massacre the attacker shot his way into the school so this ‘fix’ wouldn’t have prevented the Paducah-type massacre from happening again. 

Although Kleck, who has a background in criminology, doesn't agree with the solutions the analyst put in place to prevent future massacres from happening he does see some merit in them - in a general sense. Guns have been at the root of all these massacres.  However, youth were responsible for the committing the crime.  Kleck does not down-play the need for gun control and gun legislation but suggests  that a better understanding of youth and social order in schools, cultural background and economic background are important in determining why these events happened.. Issues such as “… school bullying … male-on-female teen dating violence, and violence-saturated entertainment …” (215) are complex and should be reviewed prior to providing a solution which will see an end to any future massacre. 

If gun's weren't available to youth through any kind of market do you think these mass killings would end?