Using the public health model to address the incidence of violence is difficult because the vulnerabilities exist in the aggressor, who is also the pathogen, rather than in the victim. Both the public health model and the criminal justice system are poorly suited to improving social conditions such as poverty, joblessness, and lack of family and community supports that appear to contribute to much violent behavior. However, the public health community has the capacity to collect violence data, identify violence risk factors, and educate the public about the risks associated with firearms. It can also help reduce the lethality of violent behavior by addressing the lethality of firearms. Reducing the incidence of violence will require a concerted and committed effort to change underlying societal factors and provide children and youth with positive alternatives and environments and a reinvigorated sense of the future. Footnotes