Defining a Deadly Problem in America

The two mass shootings on Monday, within eight hours of each other, one in Reno Nevada and the other in New York City, are sure to renew all the debate about mass shootings.

And that debate heats up every time there is a mass shooting and everyone agrees there are too many of them.

There is an even argument over the definition of a mass shooting.

It has been generally defined as an incident where four or more people are shot and killed, not including the killer. At the casino in Nevada, three people were killed and three were wounded. At the high rise in New York, four people were killed and two were wounded.

But the numbers killed in a mass shooting, and while sometimes horrifically high, don’t provide a full understanding of what it means.

The term "mass shooting" is often used to describe incidents where victims are chosen somewhat indiscriminately, often innocent people in the wrong place at the wrong time.

And that is the most unsettling thing about when these mass shootings happen.

The reasons we are usually told is that the shooter has had a history of mental health problems.

And that makes solving that problem may be the only way we ever stop the mass shootings in our country.

(Photo Getty Images)