A spate of school killings in Western Europe has raised pressure on authorities to tackle a problem long seen as a largely U.S. phenomenon, increasing momentum for tougher gun and security laws and more policing of social media.
While mass shootings remain far more common in the United States, four of the worst school shootings in Western Europe this century have occurred since 2023 and two - a massacre of 11 people in Austria and another in Sweden - were this year.
This week’s killings in the Austrian city of Graz sparked calls for tighter gun laws by political leaders, mirroring the response of the Swedish government after the 11 deaths at the Campus Risbergska school in Orebro in February.
If it were, why are there so few school shootings in the EU as compared to the US? I guarantee you europeans are no less hateful, there are just better gun controls
Sarcastic answer:
Europe has always been 10-15 years behind the curve culturally speaking, so it makes sense that these would start becoming more common now.
/S
Yet school shootings are increasing while guns are not, so there’s clearly another factor at play here. To address your question, however, Europeans have fewer targets to hate compared to America, are less individualistic, have better safety nets and mental healthcare, are behind on the progression towards fascism, etc etc. Of course some/most US states desperately need better gun control, but that’s ultimately a side-issue compared to the fact that US society is also deeply broken in many ways most/all European societies just aren’t. Kids regularly trying to shoot up their classrooms is not normal; it’s a symptom of a much deeper problem within society that needs to be identified and addressed. Focusing on gun control simply gives the government and its rich patrons something to point to so they don’t need to unfuck society.