[DanaC]

The problem as I see it, is less about controls (though I think some controls might be a wise move), it's the rhetoric around guns and the cultural place of guns in America.

Guns have always had an important part to play in American culture, but in recent decades the fight for gun rights -v- gun control, has over-emphasised that role. Guns are up there with Jesus - they're not just a right, they're an essential expression of patriotism and nationhood. They've become sanctified, and fetishised. Hollywood plays its part - but the NRA have done a great deal to imbue guns with far greater significance at an identity level, than they should ever have.

This issue is clearly not just about proliferation of weapons. Many countries have widespread gun ownership and minimal gun control but they don't seem to experience the same level of school massacres.


[eta] I am aware I am commenting on something I am only able to view from the outside and as such may be missing certain nuances.