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''Mass killers tend to be profoundly frustrated and despondent over life's disappointments, isolated from family and friends who might be in a position to provide comfort and support, and see themselves as the victim of undeserved mistreatment and unfairness. For them, the act of murder against certain people seen as responsible for their misfortune, if not against a corrupt society in general, is justified. Successful and fulfilled people, by contrast, have little need for vengeance or reason to wreak havoc in such a dramatic and public fashion.
Mass murderers often reserve their last deadly round for themselves or stand ready to be killed by police at the scene. For many, especially older assailants who have endured long years of perceived mistreatment, life on Earth becomes meaningless. They are prepared to die so long as they first achieve sufficient payback by becoming the powerful one who gets to dispense the misery. Yet even those assailants who, like the accused shooter in Colorado, willingly surrender do so knowing that they had successfully accomplished their mission: not only have they shared the pain, but they established themselves as a fearsome and dominant force in the eyes of the world.
So if there is a common pattern to these shootings and those responsible for the carnage, what does that suggest about predictability and prevention? Unfortunately, not much is readily available to help reduce the risk.
The difficult and sad truth is that thousands upon thousands of Americans share these same characteristics. There is a vast pool of people who fail to reach their ambitions, blame others or "the system" for their troubles, and have inadequate social support, yet very few will pick up a gun in response. Although the mass killer profile is predictable, their exact identifies are not. Mass murderers often exhibit telltale warning signs in their behavior or words, but these become clear only with hindsight. These so-called "red flags" are actually yellow ones that turn red only after the bloodletting.
Tighter controls on firearms licensing and sales would help to curtail our nation's high rate of gun violence, but not neccessarily this extreme form of violence. The fact is that most mass murderers, despite their readiness for violence and psychological impairment, do not have official records of criminality or mental illness that would disqualify them from gun ownership.''
