Stuff like this could be said for many laws that we have currently, and while no law is ever going to be 100% effective, saying why bother because people will still do it is a silly response in my opinion. Why bother with DUI laws, when people still drive drunk every day? Do we get rid of the laws, and instead try to get to the real root of what makes someone drive drunk?
You say people wouldn't follow the laws about locking up their guns, trigger locks, etc. Why not? A vast majority of gun owners are perfectly normal law abiding citizens. All of a sudden they'll choose to break the law? I don't think so. Some will. But, when one does and something happens, and people with guns see that individual punished for not protecting his gun, then mayb they start thinking about following the law.
Yes, we do need to find what makes kids flip like that. But to sit and do nothing while you try to "get to the root of the problem" doesn't make any sense to me. People do evil shit. They have since the beginning of time, and they will continue to. Some people came up with decent laws that you quickly dismiss because they won't be 100% effective, but how do you do something about it then? Figuring out how to prevent them at the root is just fluffy bullshit and kicking the can down the road. How are you going to identify someone? How are you going to "treat" them? Lock them up? Pump more pills in them? Give their families a bunch of money so both parents don't have to work? Find them friends so they don't feel like an outcast?
DUI laws have nothing to do with regulating alcohol. They specifically address driving while intoxicated. It's a law to punish people who drive drunk. And yet, it doesn't prevent jack shit. Tons of people drive drunk, or buzzed, or whatever you want to call it. All the DUI laws do is punish the people who get caught. We already do that with people who shoot other people. It's called murder and we put them away for life.
So why would you think passing laws about guns would have any effect whatsoever? They already tried prohibition, and it led to a huge crime wave. They've also tried outlawing drugs, and yet there are people smoking weed and other things by the millions.
Do you want to know the truth? We are numb to people dying in auto accidents. Two teenagers died in a car wreck from West Linn a couple nights ago. Is anyone freaking out? Is anyone demanding reform on driving laws? Nope. People die every day, and people are killed every day, but we have come to accept auto accidents as part of life. Why? Why does drunk driving draw less ire from the populace than shootings? They're both deadly weapons. They both kill innocent people.
The biggest difference? One was an accident, the other was intentional. So why do we blame guns and not cars? Cars are incredibly dangerous, probably more than we give them credit, but we always blame the driver. The driver is the asshole who drank and drove. The driver was the jackass who fell asleep at the wheel and killed someone. We pass laws to punish the driver of the vehicle because that's where the blame lies.
Honestly, you want my opinion? Teach firearm safety in public schools. Expose kids to guns so they understand them better. Stop trying to hide them like they don't exist and allow kids to pick them up and hold them in a safe environment. Bring police officers into schools and teach firearm safety. I know it will never happen, but I think it would be a good idea to at least lower the deaths from accidents.
Also, we need to stop spending money on wars and start investing in schools. I honestly think that smaller class sizes would help put a stop to things like this. It would allow teachers to focus on individual students more. If parents can't be as involved in their kids lives, we need to make it possible for teachers to get more involved. This will only happen if we increase funding to schools so we can lower class sizes and increase extracurricular activities. Give them something to do. Stop taking away things like band, theater, and debate, and start giving kids a way to express themselves.
We are seriously staring down the barrel of a much bigger problem. We are falling down the rankings in terms of education in the world, we are climbing in obesity, and we are sending our kids out into the world unprepared to deal with reality. I think these shootings are just a symptom of a bigger problem. We need to do something now.
