I think it is convenient to blame the government for not having schools and public areas manned by armed security. I guess we want to be more like Israel? Is that really the solution you see here?

Just look at how well that worked out for the indians.

No.

I support registration for every gun and tracking that requires guns stolen to be reported, guns traded, sold or gifted to also require background checks such that when someone without documentation is found with a gun, that alone is a crime and we can catch criminals before they commit a crime. Follow the gun and end at least some of the carnage.

I support the “Assault Weapons Ban” and the large magazine ban. With those already registered before the ban, allowed with the same caveats as above if they change hands.

I support a law that says that when a Restraining Order is issued, the police remove all guns from the premises and no guns can be purchased; same for anyone adjudicated as mentally ill or anyone who is institutionalized or diagnosed with certain mental illnesses until such situations are adjudicated as stable and no longer needing such precautions.

In that same vein, I support civil rights legislation that says such interventions cannot be used to discriminate against the people involved so that the stigma of getting help or being evaluated on some level does not ruin lives, the way a felony conviction does.

Our society has a vested interest in a mechanism knowing who has guns or access to guns when they have certain mental illnesses, domestic violence issues, criminal records or proven trails leading that way. Seldom is a crime the first signal of something wrong. We do not need to wait for a criminal to commit a crime, if merely being caught with a gun is a crime and a serious one.

My whole point is to “get tough” on the criminals and more closely watch the mentally ill, not to make gun ownership, self-defense, sport or enjoyment impossible for gun owners. There is no need for gun laws to prevent the law-abiding people from exercising their second amendment rights. There never has been. That has not been an actual goal for most of us, and certainly not an attainable one.

“There was nothing that coukd have stopped this guy”
Ahhh yes, that good old cynicism. I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: It’s funny how America’s rightists label us more progressive folks as “defeatists” whenever we scoff at their claims that they can force Islamic countries to transform into U.S.-style democracies, but when it comes to such things as universal health care and gun control, it’s these same rightists who become the cynics that say nothing can be done.