“Senator Mike Lee Introduces Resolution Asking Media to Refrain from Naming Mass Shooter,” AmmoLand’s John Crump reported Monday. “Through multiple interviews with mass shooters and through studying the manifestos of these killers, we have learned the vast majority of them carried out their heinous crimes to become famous.”

It’s a virtue-signaling move, really, because the resolution will have no force of law (and it would be terrifying if it did). Still, in an attempt to grow public demand, we’re introduced to two groups spreading the word: No Notoriety, which claims “It’s a matter of public safety,”  and Don’t Name Them, which says “It’s simple. It’s effective.”

Along with that, a few years back, my friends at Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership announced participation in the Don’t Inspire Evil campaign to “Refrain from gratuitous or repetitious portrayal of mass murderers’ names and images.”

It’s inarguable that such motivations are a factor in the deranged minds of would-be killers, and I briefly entertained the idea of not recognizing them in my articles. “There’s no point in giving this freak the notoriety he craved,” I decided in a 2018 article on a Texas school shooting, where the killer not only remained unnamed but his face was also covered up. I soon decided that approach had glaring flaws of its own.

“[M]y concern is that in our earnestness to not inspire evil we don’t unwittingly protect and enable it,” I wrote in a 2019 piece on the “contagion effect” of mass shootings. “I am skeptical that anyone evil and deranged enough to commit mass murder won’t just be triggered by something else…”

The crux of my concern:

By NOT identifying the mutant, we are dependent on what ‘officials’ and their approved media megaphones tell us, cutting off independents from doing their own fact checks. If anything, I’d like to see the perps’ social media sites and everything about them left up so we can see for ourselves the mindset they had and from what ideologies they sprang, instead of what we see happening with increasing frequency – those accounts are taken down before the names of the killers are even released.”

I’ve seen independent efforts to investigate killer backgrounds pay off personally, although it took a lawsuit to make it happen. Represented by attorney Stephen Stamboulieh, the Air Force relented in producing court martial records for the Sutherland Springs church shooter (no need to name him again here), proving there was no question the law would have designated him a prohibited person — although without segregating people too dangerous to have a gun from society, what good does that do?

The point being authorities wanted to withhold the information and the “real reporters” were oblivious, lazy, and waiting to be spoon-fed a narrative they could all parrot.

Who among us trusts the government and media to give us the straight scoop on anything that doesn’t have political implications, really? What have we seen unfold just recently with the Nashville killer’s manuscript, where a plausible reason for its suppression is… well, I don’t even have to say any more, do I?

As for gratuitous and repetitious, there’ll be millions of Google hits on killer names regardless.

If mass killings are to be minimized, a more productive effort would be hardening targets, because WHAT THE KILLERS WANT MORE THAN ANYTHING IS TO SUCCEED, and nothing ensures that more than “gun-free zones.”  While Democrats and teachers’ unions disparage the idea of armed educators protecting their charges, the deterrence success of programs like FASTER (Faculty/Administrator Safety Training & Emergency Response) is undeniable. Instead of following suicidal demands for citizen disarmament, more citizens should be prepared to repel evil, as happened at West Freeway Church of Christ in Texas (see video below).

The name problem would diminish if would-be mass murderers realized yeah, there mugs would be on TV alright, where they’d be known as that dirtbag who pulled out a gun and ended up seconds later bleeding out on the floor, proving for everyone to see that, instead of a Destroyer of Worlds, he was just a pathetic loser, destined to be quickly forgotten and who couldn’t do anything right.

About David Codrea:

David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating/defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. He blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” is a regularly featured contributor to Firearms News, and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.