BMC Event To Address Rising Regional Suicide Rates, Gun Violence

Monday night, a nonprofit focused on solving what it describes as the country’s “gun violence epidemic” is holding an event at Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. “Reframe: Changing the Approach to Firearm Injuries in America” is cosponsored by the National Shooting Sports Foundation and will address rising suicide rates in the region and their relationship to guns. Dr. Christopher Barsotti is an emergency medical physician at BMC and the founding CEO of the American Foundation for Firearm Injury Reduction in Medicine. He spoke to WAMC about the underlying causes of the spike in suicides, and ways the community can attempt to address it.