BUT NO, WE DON'T HAVE A GUN PROBLEM IN AMERICA

[bobclark86]

194. And here I thought...

We had an asshole crisis... Maybe we should try working on our poverty crisis, mental health crisis and other crises before blaming the tools?

But since the absolutely first reply hit on "gun control," let's look at what could have prevented this:

An "assault weapons ban" -- the only bit of "gun control" in the Democratic Party platform -- would not have stopped this. Why? It was a handgun. Besides, Connecticut already has an AWB in place.

It's a handgun, which in Connecticut requires a state permit to even purchase, let alone carry. So either the shooter has a license (which means they have no criminal background) OR they got it illegally. Short of a complete ban -- which is unconstitutional -- there is no law that could prevent this.

We don't know about the shooters yet. As far as mass shootings go, it's going to be a white guy, under 50, who does not have a criminal record. The best thing that could be done is strengthening background checks by making states report mental health and drug offense information (assuming the person was treated for mental illness or convicted of a drug offense).

Again, the BEST way of dealing with this is to work on the underlying social issues -- which is where Democrats have the edge because more of them (us) care.