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Slayings Highlight Risks of 'Gun Therapy' for Vets

Posted: Feb 5, 2013 4:20 PM by Associated Press

DALLAS (AP) - Chris Kyle was reputed to be the deadliest sniper in American military history and often took veterans out shooting as a way to ease the trauma of war.

Taking aim at a target, he once wrote, would help coax them back into normal, everyday life with a familiar, comforting activity.

But his death at a Texas shooting range - allegedly at the hands of a troubled Iraq War veteran he was trying to help - has highlighted the potential dangers of the practice.

Former soldiers and others say shooting a gun can sometimes be as therapeutic as playing with a dog or riding a horse.

Yet psychiatrists wonder whether the smell of gunpowder and the crack of gunfire can trigger unpredictable responses, particularly in someone suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

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