Patricide isn't new, certainly. Anyone can come up with examples hundreds, even thousands of years old.
I must disagree, I think, that our "modern" media environment has desensitized kids to violence. I've seen no definitive link, though I have seen some studies that I question because they were funded by groups on both sides of the issue, and came up with predictably opposing results.
That's not to say that our current culture hasn't had some influence. I just don't think that the TV news or movies or video games are a cause, but are rather more a symptom, of a changing attitude toward violence, especially with regard to firearms. It is a muddy issue, to be sure. Would Columbine have happened 20 yrs ago? Some say yes, others no. I think it did happen occasionally, and the difference today is the sensationalistic reporting of the events.
That is not to say that the media is to blame for that ... we, as citizens (and consumers), dictate what the media reports. We shouldn't anthropomorphize the information media, it is made up of people, it is not an entity unto itself.
We rebelled once before in this country against a similar issue, denouncing "yellow journalism". It is time for another of those social changes, in my opinion.
my ramblin's ... your mileage may vary.
btw .... I'm an NRA Life Member, too, but don't make any assumptions based on that. I stepped off the party platform a long time ago.