Shootings with four or more victims in the United States have become increasingly deadly over the last few decades, according to data from The Violence Project’s Mass Shooter Database. The project’s statistics show that in the four years leading up to 2021, some 295 people were killed in such incidents—compared to 92 in the four-year period up to 1986.
So what has changed since then?
NTD speaks to retired Army Lieutenant Colonel Dave Grossman, who is recognized as one of the top experts on human aggression and the roots of violent crime. Grossman points to what he calls “murder simulators”—another way of describing violent video games—as the root cause of these shootings. He says the U.S. military made use of man-shaped silhouettes instead of bullseyes around the time of World War II as a means of better conditioning troops to pull the trigger in combat—and that overwhelming data shows video games are conditioning children in the same way.
