Why are the shooters, the mass murderers, by a vast majority, men? The number of women, in comparison, is very small.

What do we do to our boys and young men that their depression turns to murderous rage?

When I worked for the Suicide Prevention Center, a call from a man who said he had a gun was always, ALWAYS, taken as a Red Alert. Even while I was talking to him, suicide professionals and medics were scrambling to provide assistance, while helping him calm down, talking to him and listening to him.

[My most memorable call was the man whom I finally convinced to throw the gun out into his back yard, telling him he could retrieve it in the morning--giving him some time to cool down and reconsider.

He called me back the next night (my shift was from midnight to 6 a.m.) to read me the riot act, because he had gone out into his back yard to get his pistol, and had tripped and broken his leg in the dark. He thanked me for saving his life and scolded me for causing his broken leg.]

Why is it that men turn to physical violence in general, and guns in particular? What are we doing to them? I ask this question every time I read about yet another mass shooting.

And why are we not asking this question as a matter of public enquiry? It's no secret that women seldom commit mass murder by mowing down strangers with automatic weapons. Just men.