After serving in Congress for 16 years, former U.S. Rep. Steve Israel, D-NY, shares why inaction on gun reform provoked him to leave Congress and take on a second career writing novels and teaching. His second and latest novel, "Big Guns: A Novel," is a comedy about where guns, small Long Island towns and Washington politics meet. Israel, who left Congress right before the Trump administration moved in, says that he mourned dozens of mass shootings while in office, but unfortunately, nothing changed. "The number one question that I faced, and virtually all of my colleagues after every one of those shootings, was when will Congress do something," Israel told Salon. "I wanted to explain why in this book," Israel continued, "through satire, snark and honesty."