Charles Whitman was not the first who killed for the fun of killing. While killing more than one person has been going on for centuries I believe the first Modern one would be Howard Unruh in 1949, using a Luger pistol.
Then Richard Speck murdered six student nurses using a strangling cord and a knife.
Interesting that semi-auto rifles have been on the market since 1903. Yes 1903. Yet no mass murders took place (except criminal gangs killing criminals).
Those who wanted to regulate firearms often said “We ONLY want to ban handguns! Rifles will not be affected!”
In 1981, actress Lee Grant, on Good Morning America screamed that “THE NRA IS A RIFLE ORGANIZATION! THEY SHOULD GIVE UP THEIR HANDGUNS AND THEY CAN KEEP THEIR RIFLES!”
Then in 1984 they made a grab for the rifles.
It was not till the mental hospitals were closed in the 1970s and the inmates dumped on the streets that mass murder for the sake of murder took off like a rocket. Almost every mass murderer has telegraphed their intentions well in advance.
It has become a joke now that after every mass killing the FBI says “He was on our radar.”
The worst school massacre in America didn’t use any guns all.
L