Shooter, Wade Page, was Army vet, white supremacist

[JDPriestly]

77. A gun is a phallic symbol and therefore more likely the weapon of choice,

the weapon that is really used by the sexually frustrated shooter.

Shooting a gun is, for some people, a physical metaphor for sexual activity. It gives them satisfaction. Who knows? Maybe we wouldn't have so many people shooting for sport if they did not feel the need to compensate for what they have convinced themselves is an inadequate penis, however normal their physical attributes.

Guns make the shooter feel very powerful and masculine. Probably true for women too. So, if this man had a sense of sexual inadequacy, a feeling that he was unloved -- and he probably was unloved and did feel it when you think about his history of alcohol abuse and failure, that could explain why the gun was key to this explosion of irrational anger.

Think about it. All these people feeling frightened, believing that they cannot live safely without a gun collection. What are they really worried about? If they felt successful and secure in their relationships with their families and neighbors, they would not need so many guns to comfort themselves.

This, from an amateur psychologist and student of literature. lol