I still think that anyone that is angry and crosses the line to kill someone, isn’t in their right mind and there is an underlying mental health issue.
Probably there is an underlying mental health issue. But, there being an issue and there being a diagnosis with a paper trail are such disconnected things.
I'm not sure that America (at large) will ever change the way it thinks about guns. I really wish it would, but it's hard to see how that's going to happen. I think the teenagers who are going full bore against hypocrisy in govt officials are really amazing, and I agree that there's a lot of hope in that.
Ultimately, it's going to be up to the people, more than the government, to create a foundation for any kind of lasting change on the issue. So if that group of teenagers is representative of how the future generation is going to approach thinking about gun violence and gun ownership, it looks to me like there is some real potential for change.
In the short term...if large-scale reform isn't possible, I think more immediate reform could be achieved simply by making the process a hell of a lot more paperwork-y, state-by-state. If you had to fulfill all the requirements you need to meet in order to get a driving license in the us: a training period, a probationary period, a test, and regular renewals, plus obtaining a specific form of liability insurance - casual ownership would probably go down. People who are serious about owning guns would still acquire them, but the general public wouldn't be able to impulse-buy a gun. I know this sounds super-simplistic, and it's not the entirety of a solution, but it would cut down on casual ownership, and it would change the way we think about ownership.
I also think any casual gun owner who justifies their firearm by saying they need it to be able to fight back against a gunman (home invasion, robbery, etc) should look into ballistic clothing instead.
Nothing else can defend against a bullet but another bullet. So, criminals will have the guns and citizens will have no legal way to defend themselves and will die due to it.
Ballistic armor. It's just as realistic a way to protect yourself, if you do not know how to actually shoot your gun. It can keep you alive. Getting out there and shooting the shooter? W/o really having any training in how to do that? Foolish to think it's that easy.
