In reply to John Flynn.

-Rifles and shotguns of ALL types (including the dreaded Bushmaster) account for less than 2% of all firearm deaths.

-The vast majority of firearm homicides are with pistols.

-“Mass shootings” which elicit the public’s sympathy are less than 1% of all firearm homicides.

Without fact-checking, I have no reason to question those numbers. Which, actually makes it all the more sad. It is extremely sad that these individuals who carry out the worst attacks that gain the most visibility are such a small percentage. To me, it is extremely sad that my kid being killed by a gun would more likely be something that merits only a 30-second blurb on the local news, if that.

The takeaway:

-We need something or someone to blame because “mass shootings” make us sick (as they should.)

-“Assault weapons” are scary so we blame them.

-Virtually all “mass shootings” happen in gun free zones where there are soft targets.

I'm sorry. I'm calling bullshit. This is not the takeaway at all. The takeaway that all conversations about trying to find the solution to American's gun issues are blocked by commentary like this. Shootings like this bring attention to an issue, that as you stated, is only a highly visible small piece of a much larger issue. We don't care about the kid down the street who was killed by a handgun enough to look up to the TV in the background, so, of course, nothing will change. But, when with these high-visibility events happen that could be used as an opportunity to reevaluate result in nothing, it is sad.

By that logic, we shouldn't care about the terrorist shooting in California because terrorist killing in the U.S. accounts for such a small fragment of the homicide rate. It is just something that scares us so we need something to blame.

Do you think first grade teachers should carry guns on them in the classroom?

-The real problem is the 99% of the other shootings which happen primarily in urban areas with pistols.

I don't disagree one bit. I didn't say the problem was mass shootings. The problem is we don't care about dead kids.

Why do you need a scary Bushmaster?

-It’s not about need, it’s about your rights.

This is a cop-out. I don't think gun ownership is a God-given right, so I'll default to the Constitution. The rights therein, all-in-all, have exceptions, rules, boundaries. I have the freedom to speech, but not the freedom to yell fire in a theatre. I have freedom of religion, but not to marry five woman in the name of my religion. By turning the conversation of "how can we help not have dead kids" into "I have my rights because I'm an American", we turn it into a conversation of opposition. Who is patriotic? Who isn't? We both are and we both believe in the Constitution.

-We use them for hunting (Hogs in Texas for example.)

I jest, but I'm really curious the kind of hogs that require 30-round magazines to take down.

-Sport (3 gun contests for example)

I can't qualify this as a need. It is a want.

-Protection (rated as the best gun for self defense by many military trained experts.

I don't have the data to really comment on it. I wonder what criteria was used. Protection in a war zone? Protection from a car jacking? Protection from someone stealing your TV? Protection from being mugged? I'm sure it is the best gun to kill someone, I'll grant that.

Would we give up those rights if it stopped the shootings?

-Maybe. Some would, some wouldn’t.

The question is irrelevant though because they absolutely would not stop the shootings proven by the facts above.

It simply banning one gun or one size magazine would stop the shooting, then it would be an easy answer that would have been done a long time ago. The point is that we're too busy stopping the conversation by saying "nothing will help!" that we stop trying to actually figure out how to help. How can we come together to figure out what are the actual concrete problems here? Obviously, I'm not the expert and I don't see the whole picture. But, what are the problems then?

I don't have the solutions, or else I'd offer them here. What ideas do you have? Is it a mental health issue and we need ways to better help those who are ticking timebombs? How do we reduce urban handgun deaths? Is it via guns? Community policing? Economics and job creation? I don't know. There's got to be something better than the status quo.

Or else, we just don't care about dead kids.