they seem to come in waves.... there was one less than 30 miles from our house last week

Not even PTSD paranoia can be wrong 100% of the time, muji. They really do seem to be getting more frequent.

Gentle support while you process the paranoia even an isolated incident can trigger naturally, even without the PTSD baggage. Prayers in progress.

they are picking up in frequency. :(

No they are happening. The one that has been on the news recently happened Friday in Washington. That is the only one recently that I am aware of.

I hope you never have to go through anything even close to this and I so hope these stop. I have a child in school and I worry about it. I also have been in a close situation like this, but it was different. Mine was war years ago and it wasnt a lone shooter or two. My heart goes out to those who have to deal with stuff like this. PTSD is no way to live.

GEntlest purring support to you, and to all involved and affected....

I'm going out on a limb and I blame the media. They glorify it. Those sick people who are thinking about doing something like that have no sense of self and are desperate for validation.

If they know (always a male- ever notice that?) that they will get some type of social recogition, even if they go down with the ship, they'll do it. Their biggest fear is to fade into oblivion...

And why are they called "lone gunmen" and not terrorists? They certainly put terror into the hearts of the people. Oh, wait- that term is only for Muslims. Forgot.

Thanks for the feedback. I don't know what the answer is, whether we need metal detectors in schools now or what. But it does seem to be one of the places shooters target today.

And yes, as Deli noted, usually they're male, I noticed that, too. It's hard to analyze them and anything these shooters might have in common when every time there is a rush in the media to proclaim each one a "lone gunman."

I spend every summer living abroad, and the media outside the USA does not rush to conclude right away that every violent attack was just a lone crazy person. Here in the USA there seems to be a real need in every case for the press to reassure the public that a violent attack had nothing in common with any other violent attack.

Yet all the shootings have more than one thing in common... They are all because these students have access to guns...!!! Not as many school shootings in Canada... Hummmm why is that? Oh ya, guns are illegal there, that's right..!!!

There are more than there have ever been. I was told its the whole struggling middle class thing. Their kids suffer and then break under the pressure. Its so sad. It always seems to be about money. PTSD is the real plauge .

Struggling middle class??? Puh-LEASE!!! What a bunch a babies with a sense of entitlement.

People have NO IDEA what it is to truly suffer! Some whiny spoiled kid who didn't get to be prom king blows his classmates away??? Try going to some third world county to see suffering.

So - this might be the wrong audience for this... but hubby was reading an article on a high school in Texas where all teachers were required to take a firearms course and get their carry concealed... Just in case they needed to protect their students. It said that not all the teachers carried on a daily basis, but enough did that the administration was sure that any shooter could be stopped.

I like this idea.

I think that's horrible!!! Teachers with guns??? What kind of message does that send to students???

What if I refused, based upon my beliefs/religion?

We're going to Hell in a hand basket.

Yes, they are more frequent. This came up in a conversation somewhere else and a woman from Australia simply wrote, "We have gun control. This doesn't happen here."

I remember in high school listening to my headphones in study hall. In a Weird Al song there was a gun shot sound; that freaked me out until I realized it wasn't real. I worried about being shot in school.

I'm in the Columbine and Batman theater shooting state of CO. I know someone who was in the theater. Shootings are a real problem.