Asking questions about gun laws in the wake of an active shooter scenario is a moot point. Fifty years ago, you could walk into any sporting goods store and buy a shotgun without a permit, yet mass shootings were virtually unheard of. Today, firearms are much more tightly controlled, yet these kinds of situations are exploding both in frequency and in magnitude. So the question should then be, “Why do so many people today have the reflex response to go out and kill a whole bunch of people?” Why is it that today, so many people feel that being angry and depressed is justification to go on a random killing spree? What has changed in society today that would cause such violent behaviour to be so prevalent where it had not been before? The issue in discussion should not be the instrument chosen to vent the person’s rage, but the fact that he had mass-homicidal intent in the first place. And that’s a much more difficult topic to address, because it’s a fundamentally human problem and there are no easy answers. However, haggling over firearm laws misses the point; ban all firearms, and the next rampage involves a U-Haul van packed with home made explosives driven through the front door of a Walmart. Until the cause of the problem is identified and addressed, it will simply persist.
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Asking questions about gun laws in the wake of an active shooter scenario is a moot point. Fifty years ago, you could walk into any sporting goods store and buy a shotgun without a permit, yet mass shootings were virtually unheard of. Today, firearms are much more tightly controlled, yet these kinds of situations are exploding both in frequency and in magnitude. So the question should then be, “Why do so many people today have the reflex response to go out and kill a whole bunch of people?” Why is it that today, so many people feel that being angry and depressed is justification to go on a random killing spree? What has changed in society today that would cause such violent behaviour to be so prevalent where it had not been before? The issue in discussion should not be the instrument chosen to vent the person’s rage, but the fact that he had mass-homicidal intent in the first place. And that’s a much more difficult topic to address, because it’s a fundamentally human problem and there are no easy answers. However, haggling over firearm laws misses the point; ban all firearms, and the next rampage involves a U-Haul van packed with home made explosives driven through the front door of a Walmart. Until the cause of the problem is identified and addressed, it will simply persist.