Around one in 10 Americans suffer from explosive anger management issues and has easy access to guns , a study has found . Some 3.7 million of the short-fused gun owners also confessed to carrying their weapons outside of the home . The research carried out by Harvard , Columbia and Duke University found that the majority of angry gun owners were young or middle aged men . Around one in 10 American suffering from explosive anger management issues has easy access to guns , a study has found . They were said to be more likely to live in suburban areas and be married , according to the study . They also discovered that despite some struggling with 'impulsive ' and 'destructive ' behavior , this was not picked up on background checks that could restrict their ownership , according to CBS News . The findings were described as 'something of a wake-up call , ' by the report 's author Jefferey Swanson . 'To have gun violence you need two things : a gun and a dangerous person , ' he said . 'We ca n't broadly limit legal access to guns , so we have to focus on the dangerous people . ' The study , that saw more than 5,500 men and women quizzed , came in the wake of a number of high-profile gun tragedies in the US . The study comes in the wake of a number of high-profile tragedies in the US . Pictured : Mass murderer Adam Lanza , left , who gunned down 26 people at Sandy Hook elementary school and James Holmes , right , accused of shooting dead 12 people at an Aurora movie theatre . More than 306,000 people have died in the US as a result of being shot in the last 10 years . Adam Lanza , 20 , became one of America 's most notorious murderers when he went on an 11 minute shooting spree at Sandy Hook elementary School in 2012 . He killed 20 student and six teacher in the massacre . In a movie theatre in Aurora . Colorado , 12 people were shot dead and 70 others injured by alleged gunman James Holmes . But Swanson reportedly told CBS : 'The idea that the solution is to simply fix our mental health care system to better identify serious mental illness is a little bit of a red herring . ' Instead the study suggested that the previous convictions , including driving matters , were taken into account by those dishing out the licences .
8.9 per cent of American have impulsive anger issues and access to guns . 3.7 million of the short-fused gun owners carry weapons in public . Study by three universities interviewed more than 5,000 men and woman . Comes in the wake of a number of high-profile gun tragedies in the US .