Tragedy struck this past December in Newtown, Connecticut, when a 20-year-old man killed his mother and subsequently invaded a school, fatally shot 20 children and 6 school personnel, and then killed himself. In addition to the unspeakable loss of these young children and their devoted teachers, this incident leaves psychological scars on those who witnessed the event and on the families, friends, and communities of the victims. For their sake, we must not be silent. Instead, it is imperative that we harness our clinical and research capabilities to learn from this dark episode and inform actions that will decrease the toll of violent death among our citizenry. In this editorial, we wish to place this episode in national and international perspectives, and consider three approaches that have been recommended in the national media, namely restriction of access to firearms, clinical screening about firearm availability and storage in the home, and improved access to mental health care and better screening for violence potential.
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