"But rather than taking action to address the full measure of destruction America’s gun violence inflicts, many politicians appear more comfortable offering rote words of shallow sympathy to the victims’ families, then jumping quickly behind distractions like the state of mental-health care in America. Was Robert L. Dear Jr., the
suspect in last week’s shooting, mentally ill? Did he oppose abortion? Or was he just extremely angry?
The truth is, the characteristics of killers may vary, but the result is always the same — a massacre of the innocent, made possible by virtually unimpeded access to guns. Mr. Dear had several run-ins with the law and still had plenty of weapons at hand.
Many who oppose sensible gun-safety measures point to the
350 million or so guns already in circulation and say it’s too late to turn back now. Their chilling solution is for everyone to be armed, and ready to shoot, at all times."
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/01/opinion/the-children-left-behind-after-mass-shootings.html