The firearm does a couple things. It makes the person bolder, willing to do things and take risks he would not take if unarmed, as in the Trayvon Martin case. It also makes a mass shooter much more efficient, able to kill more people in a shorter space of time.

Deadly efficiency.

Gunz let the severely disturbed - which this guy unquestionably was - easily act out their paranoid revenge fantasies. Gunz lend safe distance and maximum ability to kill in numbers.

someone's actual background not just arrest record or mental hospital stays and look a social media posts . Spend some time and look at employment background interview friends, employers etc. and see who is really buying weapons. I know too much time and trouble involved how stupid of me.

with its gun fetish is harmful.

However, in Bowling for Columbine, Michael Moore brought up an interesting point: Canada has more guns per capita than does the United States, yet they have a tiny fraction of the violent crime from which the U.S. suffers. That seems to point to another factor in addition to the availability of firearms. Moore concluded that it was the ever present environment of fear that is propagated by our government and mass media establishments.

The problem seems to be at least two-fold: we work our citizens into a frenzy of fear and hatred, and give them lots of guns. That's a recipe for disaster. Many propose that restricting access to guns will solve the problem, and it may - to a degree. I believe that we also need to address the fear and the hatred.

Most Canadians don't think everyone is out to get them or their stuff. Canada also has some rational and reasonable regulations on gun ownership. You know, common sense stuff that anyone with a brain might be able to understand. That's a pretty effective combination to address the risk of gun violence.

I know the OP won't like this, but stopping the culture of fear, paranoia, hatred and the "you're on your own" mentality will do more to reduce gun violence than any amount of restriction on gun ownership.

I, for one, would prefer that concealed carry permits be restricted to those with a demonstrated professional need.

Canada: 30.8 guns per 100 people; USA, 88.8 guns per 100 people.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/nation/gun-homicides-ownership/table/

I stand corrected.

However, I still believe that the Government and media are waging a propaganda campaign to keep us in a constant state of fear, so that we can be manipulated, and that this state of fear has violent consequences.

if guns are so bad, why do you sell them? You have mentioned being an FFL holder several times but it seems incompatible with your position to me.
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