For much of the past year, the coronavirus pandemic overshadowed another public health challenge in the United States,

that of gun violence.

But gun violence did not go away.

The nonprofit gun violence archive, which tracks gun deaths and injuries, estimated that guns killed nearly 44,000 Americans in 2020,

24,000 of them by suicide. That's the highest

number of annual gun deaths in the past two decades. And in March and April, mass

shootings in Atlanta, Boulder, Colorado, and Indianapolis catapulted gun violence to the forefront

of the national conversation yet again. What do we know about the causes of gun violence in the United States?

Why is it rising now?

Who is most at risk of committing gun violence or of being a target?

And on this politically polarized issue, can research offer any insight into effective prevention

strategies and hope for solutions.

Welcome to Speaking of Psychology, the flagship podcast of the American Psychological Association

that examines the links between psychological science and everyday life.

I'm Kim Mills.

Our guest today is Dr. Susan Sorensen, a professor of social policy and health and societies at the University of Pennsylvania, where she directs the Ortner Center on Violence and Abuse.

She holds a PhD in clinical psychology and has an interdisciplinary background in epidemiology, sociology, and psychology.

Her research focuses on the epidemiology of the prevention of violence, including gun violence.

She has a particular interest in the role guns play in violence against women and in guns as a consumer product.

She also served on a panel that developed APA's 2013 report on gun violence prediction, prevention, and policy. Thank you for joining us today,

Dr. Sorensen. Thank you. I appreciate your interest in this issue and appreciate your

invitation to be joining you today. Great. Well, let's start by talking about mass shootings

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