There are 50 million more guns than people in America. We also have more shootings and gun deaths than any country in the world. As a former president of the Chicago Board of Health, a public health activist and a retired professor of medicine with an advanced degree in psychiatry, I harbor strong, fact-based opinions about why we are having an endless epidemic of gun violence.
The overriding cause is the basic insecurity of the perpetrators. They — predominantly males — falsely believe this insecurity can be cured by owning, holding and firing “his” weapon. Poorly developed interpersonal and communication skills, dysfunctional life situations and anger management issues are problems commonly identified in homicides. Any insult, disrespectful remark or argument may become a “trigger.”
