Commercial teevee is the deadliest gateway drug

Until the Vietnam War school shootings were rare and scattered but after commercial teevee brought the carnage into every American living room something changed. School shootings spiked to seventeen in the 1960s.

Suffering from pounding headaches induced by post-traumatic stress disease Marine-trained sniper Charlie Whitman climbed to the observation deck of the 27-story clock tower at the University of Texas then killed thirteen people and wounded thirty others on 1 August, 1966. Until the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007 it was the deadliest shooting on a US college campus.

Whitman and the Fuesses chatted generally for an hour or so, and at one point the conversation turned to Vietnam. Whitman "said he couldn't understand why boys from the United States had to go over there and die for something they didn't have anything to do with." [source]

On 13 July, inspired by Whitman and what he saw on teevee Richard Speck broke into a townhouse serving as a National Maritime Union dormitory and murdered several young student nurses.

On Friday, July 8, 1966, his brother-in-law Gene drove Speck to the NMU hiring hall to pick up his seaman's card and register for a berth on a ship. Speck lost out that day to a seaman with more seniority for a berth on the SS Flying Spray, a C1-A cargo ship bound for South Vietnam, and returned to his sister Martha's apartment for the weekend. [source]

On 12 November, 1966 18-year-old Bob Smith took seven people hostage at Rose-Mar College of Beauty and shot each in the head. Smith reportedly admired Richard Speck and Charles Whitman.

During protests of the Vietnam War on 4 May, 1970 a string of shootings at Kent State University began with the death of four and the wounding of nine by Ohio National Guard soldiers.

While protesting the US military presence in Cambodia two students were killed and twelve others injured when police opened fire at Jackson State on 15 May, 1966.

There were thirty school shootings in the 1970s, 39 in the 1980s, 62 in the 1990s, 64 in the 2000s and more than 149 so far in the 2010s.

Charles Whitman, Richard Speck, Timothy McVeigh, Eric Harris, Dylan Klebold, Dylann Roof, Adam Lanza, Robert Dear, James Holmes, Eric Rudolph, Jared Loughner, Wade Michael Page, Ted Kaczynski, Eric Frein, Stephen Paddock and Nickolas Cruz all are or were christians. All these men were victims of bullying, isolation and ostracism. All had histories of extensive teevee usage, many of video game exposure and of easy access to firearms. Distrust of government was a factor in most, if not all of the episodes for which they are infamous.

Is this how Americans really want to live? Carry rifles and sidearms into every bar, church, and arena?

Stand your ground has become vigilante justice because the courts are overwhelmed with suspects in the war on drugs, our communities are becoming armed camps and we’re barricaded in our homes afraid to let our kids go to school.

According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, in 1950 only 10 percent of American homes had a television. Today, that number is an astonishing 99 percent. Nearly two-thirds of all TV programs contain violent scenes, including children’s programs. And it is well documented that children imitate behavior seen on television, including violence. Ninety-five percent of American adolescents aged 13-17 have smartphones, and 92 percent play video games. Both are commonly used without parental supervision. The Kaiser Family Foundation has performed numerous studies documenting the link between viewing violence and aggressive behavior. One study that evaluated 430 third-, fourth-, and fifth-graders found that children’s exposure to media violence predicted increased aggressive behavior. [Marin Voice: We need to help our kids cope with media violence]

Commercial teevee truly is the most dangerous gateway drug. How many more people will be caught in or die from as yet uncounted crossfires?

Prohibition doesn't work.

Raise the age of civilian possession, operation and ownership of all firearms to 21, levy 100% excise taxes on the sales and tracked gifting of the weapons on Senator Diane Feinstein's list then tag the revenue for Medicaid expansion so parents have the resources to address the devastating effects of commercial teevee on American youth.