Action is purposeful in that it is a means of achieving an end or objective. Individuals do not act without some purpose that they expect such action will fulfill. If my end is to acquire more material wealth over my lifetime, then I need a means of achieving that end. I may start my own business that I believe will be highly lucrative; I might go to college to earn a degree in something I expect will increase my lifetime income relative to not obtaining the degree; I might marry a rich person; or I might even begin robbing banks. In either case, my action was purposeful in that is is a means of attaining my desired end. Once I decide what exactly is my objective or end, I then determine the best means for me of attaining that end and then act to achieve it.
We tend (at least in past times) to typically not regard others’ ends, means or actions as our business as long as their behavior does not directly interfere with our well-being or the well-being of others. If your end is to become a multi-billionaire and you choose to achieve that end by developing shopping malls, then by all means have at it as long as your actions do not directly interfere with me and my ends. Now of course it gets fuzzy here because essentially all behavior affects someone else in some way, oftentimes adversely, but more often beneficially. You building a mall across the street from my house adversely affects me in that I have to suffer with more traffic near my home, so we pass zoning laws to restrict your behavior. But that point is irrelevant to the point I want to make. The point I want to make regards means, end and action that (almost?) all of us would agree we never want to see.
Suppose someone, for whatever reason, wants to make a statement. This statement may have a political purpose or gives them some perceived fame or power and control over the lives of others, generally increasing their perceived sense of importance to others in the world. For whatever reason they want the focus on them. This is their end or purpose or objective and they have to find some means of attaining that end.
Fame is the end for many celebrities and they attain that end by somehow generating media attention. We like to think of this type of notoriety as the result of accomplishment, like the media attention received by some inventor or entrepreneur who makes our lives better, but media attention is often focused on this low level fame rather than accomplishment. People like Paris Hilton know how to attain this end, though some don’t appreciate it when they cannot turn it off when they want it off.
Mass shooters are seeking a similar platform and seek out the attention they know will be provided by the media. They do not pick up guns (if ever, as far as I know, but maybe even rarely) and begin shooting random strangers because they want those people dead; this is not their end or objective. Their objective is not that John Doe no longer lives, it is instead the notoriety and fame their cause, whatever that is, receives by them taking up guns and shooting people. They seek the media exposure for various reasons, but often for the perceived sense of importance they receive. Without the media focus on them and the results of their behavior following one of these tragedies, these antisocial personality disorders do not achieve their end. And just as a hostage taker won't take hostages (their means) if there is no reward in doing so (their end), personality disorders like the guy in Colorado will not take up that kind of behavior (their means) if they know it will not generate media attention (their end).
This is why I largely blame the media for events like that which took place last week in Colorado. The end or objective of this type of personality defect is primarily the attention they and their actions generate, not the destruction of human life. Just like the attention whore who discovers the media as a means of attaining the fame and notoriety they crave, so too does the gunmen like that in Colorado crave, and know how to get, the media focus on them. Take away guns while leaving the media attention intact and you can expect no decline in this type of behavior, they’ll just employ a different means of mass destruction in order to attract media attention and attain their end. The problem does not lie with guns; it lies with a media so obsessed with ratings they act in ways that perpetuate this kind of behavior. The attention the shooter and his or her actions generate enables him or her to achieve their end and therefore encourages the next person with a similar end and who finds this type of behavior the easiest means of achieving it to follow suit.
