As unpleasant as it is, questions need to be asked about America’s epidemic of mass shootings.

Political leaders in the U.S. try desperately to avoid the stark reality: the mass shooting of kids is a uniquely U.S. problem. Yes, there are atrocities going on around the world – genocides, child slavery, human trafficking, etc…- and as grotesque as these acts are, none are more perplexing than a man arming himself to the teeth and then walking into a school, opening fire and killing random children. Why, even if homicidal, would anyone choose a school full of children to act out their violent spree?

The following is my general view on the issue. I draw heavily on the excellent work by Harold Schwartz, “The Mind of The Mass Shooter” published in the Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, as well as other publications and the fundamentals of neuroscience.