I think I have at least part of the answer.
Anyone committing a mass shooting will immediately and automatically have their name changed to "John Doe". Or Jane, as the case may be. Their actual name will never be reported in the mass media, nor will any photos of the shooter ever be published. No description of the person or his or her past or anything else that describes the person will ever be published.
This prevents going out with a bang, so to speak. People wanting to be noticed will find that mass killings will not do them any good.
Second: Every victim of a mass shooting will be described prominently described, and the scope of their loss (the effect of their death on individuals, institutions, chat rooms, whatever) will be printed in an effort to make it perfectly frickin' clear that innocent victims of mindless acts are human beings that lost everything by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Many 911 victims were memorialized quite publicly, and I think it helped make the loss clearer to all. The same should be done for the victims of todays school shooting, of the recent theatre and mall victims, etc. This would apply to those who are injured as well. We need to turn ourselves into humans so that we will be less likely to be shot by those who think of everyone as faceless nobodies.
Third: Make it clear that if you are an individual or a part of a small group that is becoming obsessed with committing such a crime, all you have to do is walk into any medical facility, tell someone that you need help, and an army of trained professionals will immediately begin helping via psychological intervention. The goal of all involved will be to actually help and cure the person with the problems. Such interventions will be made public (though the name of the person with the problem would not be released), broadcasting the fact that someone in need of help got it and was helped through the recovery process, hopefully successfully.
These are just ideas off the top of my head after hearing about todays absolutely senseless killings. I felt much the same way after the Norwegian massacre and of course feel much the same way after every mass killing. This shit has to stop, and the media has to stop doing exactly what most of the killers want: providing instant fame.
On top of the above steps, we kind of need to step back as a society and figure out what the f**k we're doing wrong to cause such people to exist. And if any religious person claims that all we need is jesus, keep in mind that Timothy McVeigh already had him. He expressed a belief in god after he blew up the Federal building in Oklahoma City. So religion is not an anecdote, nor is any other philosophical stance, if it can be combined with insanity.
Sorry, I'm just angry. I cannot imagine what set of circumstances could ever set me off on a jihad against innocents just because I've had a bad day or a bad life. I understand (in the sense that it has at least a tiny bit of rationality) when someone kills a person who has actually harmed them or someone they loved. But school kids? No frickin' way.
