I listen to a lot of true crime/serial killer podcasts (probably too many...definitely too many).

The 70s and 80s were largely defined by serial killers. There are SO many. It's honestly pretty crazy. Take a look at this list. There are SO many from the 70s and 80s. And I think it's kind of challenging for us to understand the fear that gripped some of these cities while the killers were operating. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_serial_killers_in_the_United_States

Essentially every major US city had a serial killer that for a period of months/years/decades struck fear in the people that lived there. Women were changing their hair color to avoid Bundy, families were locking their doors in Witchita because of BTK, people in LA were buying guns and guard dogs because of the Night Stalker, Richard Ramirez. Coeds in California were walking home with friends because of Ed Kemper. People all over the Northwest were horrified of Gary Ridgway and Robert Yates. Dean Corll changed the way parents watched their kids in Houston in a similar way the clown killer John Wayne Gacy did in Chicago. And Son of Sam and Zodiac held the cities of New York and San Francisco respectively captive for months. Dahmer horrified Milwaukee and then the nation. And the Golden State killer did the same in the Bay.

My theory is that being a prolific and evil serial killer is nearly impossible today with cameras everywhere, DNA, phones tracking locations, etc. etc. So, crazy people, instead of horrifying a city for 4 years by killing someone every 3 months, just decide they'll wander into a 7-11 with a semi-automatic weapon. Technology simply has made it more difficult to be a serial killer. And the difficulty of being a serial killer has made this generation--a generation defined by instant gratification-- shoot up a Wal-Mart instead of meticulously planning murders for years and years.

I actually think my insane theory holds water.