Opinion: Solving America’s plague of gun violence

Since the 1960s, the national conversation on firearms in both political and academic circles has revolved around one main question: Do guns increase crime or reduce it?

After the Sandy Hook tragedy, reporters often called me to ask for information on firearms.

There is a moment following every mass killing when the media turn their attention to the shooter’s mental health.

The United States has the most heavily armed civilian population in the First World; our homes contain enough firearms for every man, woman and child.

Each year more than 11,000 people are killed with guns in the United States, an additional 20,000 people commit suicide with guns and 80,000 people survive gunshot wounds with a wide range of injuries, including life-altering paralysis.