"Seven Insights to Help You Make Sense of Gun Violence"

"For these economically insecure, less-religious white men, “the gun is a ubiquitous symbol of power and independence, two things white males are worried about,” says Froese. “Guns, therefore, provide a way to regain their masculinity, which they perceive has been eroded by increasing economic impotency.”

In Froese’s view, stockpiling guns seems to be a symptom of a much deeper crisis in meaning and purpose in the lives of these men. When read in the context of other studies, this research describes a population that is struggling to find a new story—one in which they are once again the heroes... 

“When men became fathers or got married, they started to feel very vulnerable, like they couldn’t protect families,” she says. “For them, owning a weapon is part of what it means to be a good husband and a good father.” That meaning is “rooted in fear and vulnerability—very motivating emotions.”

Investing guns with this kind of moral and emotional meaning has many consequences, the researchers say. As Froese says, “Put simply, owners who are more attached to their guns are most likely to believe that guns are a solution to our social ills. For them, more ‘good’ people with guns would drastically reduce violence and increase civility. Again, it reflects a hero narrative which many white men long to feel a part of.”... 

Despite these worrying trends, we can take comfort in the fact that all the evidence we have indicates that the vast majority of humans do not want to hurt each other."

https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/seven_insights_to_help_you_make_sense_of_gun_violence

Read to the end, it will comfort you. 

FB: "Conservatives and liberals may never agree about specific gun-control policies; those are political questions. But we might come together on one, hopefully non-political point: People who feel connected to something larger than themselves are happier, healthier, and less likely to hurt other people. By helping each other to stay connected with a diverse group of people who might help give our lives meaning, we can reduce the probability of violence."