American's deadliest habit
Mass shootings aren't random. They're a public health epidemic we refuse to confront
By: Philip Chan
and Amy Nunn
Opinion contributors
..... The gun violence at Brown University on December 13 [2025] is part of a complex public health crisis. Te h consequences of this senseless act - two people killed, nine more injured and a vibrant community shattered by fear and mourning - are, as many public officials have appropriately described them, unimaginable.
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Yet the act itself - an individual choosing to sue a firearm in a public place to inflict harm on the people around them - has tragically become routine in the United States. On December 18 [2025] authorities announced hat the suspect in the Brown University shooting has been found dead in New Hampshire. Providence Police Chief Oscar Perez identified the suspected shooter as Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, 48, a former Brown student whose last known address was in Miami.
..... Here on the East Side of Providence, Rhode Island, we're now just the latest in along list of communities to reprocessing the same tragically cliched thought: "We can't believe it happened here."
..... Like everyone else, we're heartbroken about the loss of two young lives. On campus, which should be buzzing with students cramming for finals and preparing for the holidays, we're disoriented by its quiets emptiness.
..... At Open door Health, a primary and behavioral health clinic we run together in Providence, we're trying our best to care for our patients, many of whose own marginalized communities are being attacked as the type of dangerous rhetoric specific to these tragedies predictably crops back up on television and social media channels.
..... At home, we're terrified and furious for our own kids, who, like everyone else's, shouldn't have to live in a world where event like this can happen.
.... Writing as doctors and public health researchers with our own personal and professional ties to Brown University's community, we are trained to be objective when studying crises, to lean on data and science to understand not only the consequences of the issue, but also their root causes.
..... While that level of objectivity is difficult to maintain in a moment as painful and deeply personal as this, it is the only was to work toward solutions.
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Let's start with what we know.
..... We know that the United States is an outlier when it comes to mass shootings. Of all the mass shootings in developed countries, more than 70% happen here.
.... Seven of the 10 deadliest mass shootings in U.S. modern history have taken place since 2012. Putting aside political stances related to gun control, mental health or any other of today's [12/26/2025] divisive issues, it is clear we as a nation are doing something wrong.
..... We know mass shootings take an extraordinary toll on the helaht and wellbeing of virtually everyone exposed to them - one that goes well beyond the obvious and horrific burden carried by victims, survivors, witnesses, loved ones and others directly experiencing the violence.
..... Studies show simply following mass shootings in the news can lead to higher stress levels and more pronounced symptoms of anxiety disorders, depression and other harmful conditions.
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This aligns with what we are personally witnessing in Providence since the campus shooting, from anecdotal conversation with our friends and colleagues to a marked increase in patients presenting for mental health services at our clinic.
..... We know mass shootings have patterns, albeit imperfect ones. They're most likely to occur in the daylight hours in generally crowded, public settings, most commonly in workplaces or retail settings.
..... The shooters is White more than half the time, almost always male, and highly likely to have had some history with mental health illness and prior criminal behavior.
..... While shootings involving assault refiles are typically deadlier, handguns are most commonly use and far easier to conceal. More often than not, guns are purchased through legal means.
..... Finally, we know that shootings are generally less likely to take place in states with lower overall rates of gun-related crime and stricter gun control laws. As this weekend [12/220-21/2025] proved, however that doesn't mean shootings won't happen in a city like Providence, which had seen just two homicides in 2025 before December 13, [2025] or a state like Rhode Island, which has what are considered some of the toughest gun control policies in the country.
..... The information we have doesn't paint the full picture of the problem, but it helps cerate an outline of where to start.
..... It shows hat this level of community violence fits every definition of a public health crisis. It should be addressed (and funded) as the epidemic it is - through objective, data-driven approaches focused on identifying and addressing its root causes.
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It shows that in addition to enacting stronger gun control laws in states across the country, there is a desperate need for greater community and school-based efforts to destigmatization and promote mental health services and nonviolent concepts, particularly for young men, starting at a young age.
..... Mental helaht services need to be proactively offered in health care settings or woven into primary care, as we do in our own clinic, so that clinical teams can identify these issues before they devolve into violence.
..... Addressing this crisis will be complex, controversial and probably expensive. It will require leaders, regardless of their political parties or backgrounds, to come together publicly on this issue and commit significant state and federal resources to develop and execute a comprehensive public health initiative specifically dedicated to preventing mass shootings.
..... To echo what's been said by so many others after so many days like December 13; [2025] The time is now.
..... Because here's the most important thing we know: Our small community on Providence's East Side was the most recent to be shattered.
..... Without action, it's certainly not unimaginable to say it won't be the last.
..... Philip Cann, a professor of medicine at Brown University, is the chief medial officer of the Rhode Island Public Health Institute. Amy Nunn, an adjunct professor of public health at Brown University, is chief executive officer of the Rhode Island Public Health Institute.