In many cases mass shooters buy guns only after they decide to kill: data shows

The ever-growing list of mass shootings prompted one criminal justice professor to examine the laws or lack of laws behind the failure to stop mass shooters before anyone is killed.

Speaking to CNN on Sunday, Asst. Professor Adam Lankford at the University of Alabama explained that he looked at the data of where mass shooters strike and why.

"And despite having less than 5 percent of the world's population, the United States had approximately 30 percent of the world's public mass shooters, really like six times as many as we should have if things were evenly distributed," he explained. "And in addition, we have more than 40 percent of the world's civilian firearms too. Your point about guns, firearm access seemed to be a critical explanation here. I looked for a bunch of different possible explanations. But really, what the data said was that firearm access explains why people here, when they want to do something bad, do something so terrible compared to people with bad intentions but less access in other countries."

For those like Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Mitch McConnell (R-KY), the conclusion is that mental illness is the problem causing mass shootings. Oddly, however, neither Cruz nor McConnell has announced any legislation to fix the mental illness problem they blame.

"So I think it's important to acknowledge that certainly, you know, if you look at individual mass shooters, they often could benefit from mental health treatment," Prof. Lankford said. "But that doesn't explain why the United States is so different from the rest of the world. One of the things I looked at was suicide rates. Suicide and mental illness are closely correlated, and the United States does not have anywhere near the worst suicide problem in the world. And if you think about treatment and services, you know, there are a lot of countries around the world who wish they had our treatment services, our medication. So, you know, ultimately, the key is what makes the United States different as a factor that could explain why we're so different when it comes to this form of violence? And mental illness just isn't it."

"If there's one cultural factor I would point to, it would be too many Americans really prioritize becoming famous and getting attention as their number one goal," said Lankford. "And unfortunately, we have seen that among a lot of mass shooters who really want fame and attention and think that by killing, that's the only way they can get it. So, if there's one cultural factor that would be good to tamp down in terms of the unhealthy effects, this would be the fame and attention and the copycat attacks that lead to. Ultimately, even when people want to do bad things anywhere, the key is are they able to do it? And that brings us back to firearms."

He went on to cite that when it comes to mental illness and guns, the greatest problems go back to their access to weapons despite suffering from mental illness.

"Looking at the timing can be so informative," he continued. "I thought about it as this kind of question: What came first, the chicken or the egg? In this case, what came first, the desire to kill or the acquisition of the firearm? And the answer was the desire to kill in many cases. So, many of these shooters are not lifelong gun owners or hunters. If you're a hunter or lifelong gun owner, I feel your pain. You shouldn't be unfairly blamed. The problem is these perpetrators, they're going into a gun store and they've already decided that they want to kill, and they're looking across the counter and they're just waiting for someone to give them a tool that can make that possible. So, really the key is given that we know sequentially that they already want to kill when they purchase that firearm, can we do something to stop that transaction?"

See the full discussion below: