I'll save discussion of the potential merits of gun control for another day. But we have just got to do something about the culture of violence in this country.
When Pres. Kennedy was assassinated, TV shows dialed down violence a great deal, toy guns disappeared from stores. I was never even allowed to play with one or to have a G.I. Joe. The amount of gore on even network television these days sincerely alarms me.
We has a mass shooting just last week. I don't know the answers -- surely better and more available mental health care must be part of the mix -- but when will we finally be moved as a society to do something? We must refuse to accept that this sort of horrific event has become "normal" -- that we'll just murmur nice words, go back to our lives . . . and then wait for the next mass-killing.
You can boil it down to three factors imo:
1) lack of easy access to mental health services
2) unemployment/bad economy
3) easy access to guns
There is no solution to any one of these. We are just going to get bandaids like putting guards in elementary schools or arming teachers.
There are possible solutions to 1 and 2, maybe not easy and likely not popular but there are possible solutions.
But today is not the day to debate them.