From the Heritage Foundation, I'm Michelle Cordero, and this is Mass Have.

In my opinion, certainly gun control is a debate that we need to have.

But another debate we need to have is something that's also common in these shootings,

the fact that these kids come from broken homes without dads.

Have you heard anybody talk about this one fact?

The Florida shooter had something else in common with almost every other single mass murderer in recent years.

He grew up without a father.

Why aren't we talking about that?

He's sad.

He's mournful. he's remorseful.

He is fully aware of what is going on.

And he's just a broken human being.

Broken boys and broken homes.

This is one of the commonalities when it comes to traits of a school shooter.

Today on Mass Ave, we'll talk about not just how to protect students from shooters,

but also what must happen so that fewer students become shooters in the first place.

Emily Gow, director of Heritage's Richard and Helen DeVos Center, sat down with me to talk about the crisis of fatherless shooters.

Hi, Emily.

Hi, Michelle.

Thanks for having me on.

Emily, you recently wrote that 24% of white non-Hispanic families are headed by a single parent and that 66% of African American families are as well.

Has there been a recent breakdown in the American family?

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