My heart and thoughts go out to the families and the community. I hope the consoling and grieving contribute to futhering a robust appreciation for the values we hold dear and why we must care for others as if they serve a more integral part in our daily lives.
Regarding other matters in this thread, I noted some strong-ish viewpoints, and the rational behind which I found to be rather interesting. Some of these are thoughts and some are summations or both.
1) The thought of having more gun availability to prevent the usage of more available guns or other weapons/violence, is interesting if not a bit confusing.
2) The tragic story of the 22 people injured in China with a knife makes me think "thank goodness they didn't have a gun". They all survived I believe.
3) The "if it wasn't a gun it would have been something else" theory is also interesting. The "something else" seems like it would be preferable. Wether it be a knife (apparently not as effective as a gun), a bomb (requires perhaps a bit more effort and it's a bit more definitive if you're wearing it), automobile (not very portable, kinda ironic), poison (still a bit of effort and a bit more risky), hitman (requires significant money usually, and you need to be hot for sexual favors to work in lieu of money). Convenience still seems to be a relevant consideration in even the most absurd circumstances/individuals.
4) Would people feel more comfortable knowing there are concealed guns in school (apart from officers)? Would faculty/Admin even want to carry them? That's a lot of responsibility one way or the other. You don't really passively pull a gun on someone, that takes either "crazy" or "trained dedication"(usually). I would also think that you would likely be a target immediately upon brandishing it. Perhaps you might strike more panic in a crazy person who is holding a gun. But then again, "do you feel lucky punk?".
5) Terrorism, war, revenge, and crazy all sure look alike if you're on the recieving end. Yet they all are distinguishable, and readily so most of the time.
6) Does a gun in some way protect you from the government, does it really give you an option now? you vs. police/military.
...If you're understanding malphas, I think we need to get back to discussing the importance of proper mental health identification and treatment.
Absolutely! This will likely take much government involvement to implement as well as continued tax apportionment.