Russell Catania: Add these to gun-violence causes

One of the letters (“Many factors in gun deaths”) about gun violence in the Oct. 11 Sunday Forum was different from the rest. In it, the writer mentioned that the increase in these crazy shootings and killings has more to do with how our culture has changed since the 1950s than actual gun control laws, since the laws back then were even more relaxed than they are now.

The writer mentioned how the dismantling of our mental health system; the gratuitous violence in music, film and television; and the fracturing of our family values are all contributing to the chaos.

I would like to add two more reasons.

The general “everyone gets a trophy” attitude has created a generation who feel entitled, so that when they are finally thrust into the real world without ever having known disappointments, they cannot handle any rejection whatsoever.

The second, and most important of all, stems from the removal of God from our daily aspects of living, especially in our schools.

This story was originally published October 17, 2015 at 2:00 PM with the headline "Russell Catania: Add these to gun-violence causes."