Utterly disgusting.

This is why we need gun control laws. Because of people like this.

He had a firearm illegally.  Gun control wouldn’t have fixed this.

Gun control regulations would make it harder for people to illegally get guns. Why is this such a hard concept for people to grasp? When will human life become more important than guns?

… the man was literally not allowed to own a gun but he had one anyway.  You don’t know how he got the gun.  Your regulations don’t do anything if people actively circumvent them because people can steal or smuggle guns as it is already.

You don’t even know my position on gun control.  All I pointed out was in this situation, regulation and control would’ve done nothing to stop this guy because he already had a gun illegally and was carrying it around, clearly not giving a shit that it was illegal for him to do so.

Does that mean we shouldn’t try? Does that mean we should be sitting here with our thumbs up our butts to fix a very apparent problem? No, it’s not perfect, nothing is perfect, this could’ve happened regardless of gun control regulation, but proper regulation on firearms could’ve made this situation far less likely. I, for one, think it’s worth at least trying.

Here’s the thing.  You think the issue is guns.  It isn’t.  Canada, Switzerland and numerous other nations with gun culture aren’t as bad as the USA in terms of gun violence and mass shootings.

Maybe instead of focusing on gun restrictions, you focus on the actual issues.  Mental health, gun training, illegal firearms and gang violence?

I’m from Canada. I don’t like guns.  But I recognize the US citizenry’s desire to keep their gun culture.  And I also recognize that what you’re proposing is an authoritarian bandaid that will only make you feel better and not actually stop the majority of gun deaths.

The gun issue is fucking dead.  It isn’t going to change.  And shrieking about it isn’t going to change it.  Half the nation is against gun control, barring the post tragedy surge in emotional bleating about it.

Accept that this fight is one you can’t win and actually lobby for solutions to the real problems:  

• Young men feeling mentally isolated and worthless
  
• Resources for suicide
• Illegal guns being flooded in from Mexico
• Gang violence
• Proper gun training (to avoid accidental deaths)

The reason why a lot of people are arguing towards gun control and not for the things you just outlined (even though they are valid symptoms) is because those arguments are constantly parroted by the same people that are heavily funded by the NRA and other gun lobbying groups. It seems as though these arguments are not methods for solving a problem, but for diverting the discussion away from gun control specifically, and placing it on something else. This happens every time a mass shooting happens, and surprise surprise, nothing gets done.

I just want something to happen. Anything. We were the nation that converted factories overnight to support the WWII effort. We were the nation that went from dreaming of landing a man on the moon, to landing a man on the moon. We were the nation that built the world’s strongest economy, most efficient system of freight, national highways and so much more. Yet, after nearly 20 years since Columbine, we have done absolutely nothing to curb a problem that is literally shooting us in the face.

My question is why you’re concerned with school shooters then, and not inner city gang violence first, when that contributes far more to the death of children than mass shootings.

Also, you can blame the fact that the USA stopped being a nation focused on America first and became a globalist-corporate entity that largely stopped the USA from having a powerful economy and initiative.

I will also say, that if you think the NRA’s rather paltry lobbying and donations to the government is going to compete with the lobbying done by anti-gun organizations, then you’re insane.

The fact that you say these are valid symptoms, yet immediately use the term “parroted” as if they weren’t valid solutions tells me you have some double think going on.  That because the NRA suggests them, they must be bad or disingenuous.

Focus on those issues first.  Try to actually lower gun deaths, lower crime and lower other aspects first.  Because your legislation are going to do jack shit to stop these issues because THOSE are the real problems.

If there is a problem AFTER that, then you may need to legislate gun control.  Doing it now is going to result in overcompensation because you have all these other factors stepping in and inflating the issue.

Now is not the time for emotion to rule.  Logic is.  Dead children are awful, but it should not be something that automatically creates policy because if that were the case, we’d have already nuked Syria for those videos of children dead from sarin gas.