Few but NRA loonies are stupid enough to seriously think we could put and end to crime by mandating all law abiding citizens to possess firearms.
And we won't end violence by mandating the possession of guns either.
It's a fools errand.
Only shooting at the societal causes of crime and violence is a step in the right direction.

One argument for open or concealed carry of guns into public places is that of deterence. That if someone 'there' had a gun to shot back at the perp who started shooting first not as many people would get killed or injured.
This is based upon the wholly misguided assumption that everyone who owns or carries a gun actually knows how to properly use it let alone AIM it. It is more reasonable to believe based upon facts from combat situations that if everyone had a gun when some insaniac opened fire that more people would get killed and injured because in the ensueing malay you would then have more than one idiot randomly pulling the trigger without aiming.
ONLY highly constantly trained and fully liable individuals should have the priviledge to carry weapons into the public arena.

“Evil visited this community today,” ...aye..that it did...all that ye reject and marginalize and cruelly drive out of your heart and home...lurk in the darkness of your soul...waiting for the fatal moment of your weakness...to come in...oh human...ye pitiful divided being...now weep at thy self created disaster...and then forget...until ...as it will...it happens again and again and again...

The real tragedy here lies not in the availability (or lack thereof) of firearms, but in a society so broken it is unwilling or unable to attend to those of its members who are mentally or psychologically ill to the point of being capable of harming themselves and in some cases, others. A society so broken that many of its members choose to live the better part of their lives in the virtual reality worlds of primetime television shows, box office movies and computer games. The unquestioned “top-grossing” subject of said worlds being violence and more violence, killing and more killing. The painfully apparent thesis shared here is “ he (or she) who kills the most, wins the most.” In such an environment it is not unexpected that unspeakable violence would migrate from the pixel to an actual pistol.

Of course, in a nation that just spent 711 BILLION dollars last year specifically to the purpose of killing as many people as possible as quickly as possible, this kind of behavior from a statistically insignificant part of the population is to be expected. This minority of highly impressionable individuals, like Konrad Lorenz’ ducklings, imprint at a very early age on the ever-present surrogate mother, violence in all its hi-def glory.

One cannot and should not forget the credit due to the bankers, the multinational corporations, the UHNW individuals around the globe - and the nations those entities own - who manage to strip hundreds of thousands of children on an everyday basis of any chance for an upbringing unmarked by starvation, disease, war, loss of family, physical and sexual abuse, and a chance to grow to a wholesome adulthood, however scarred by the hazards of youth. However what we are led to understand is that for the great open-pit mines of global profit one must expect a few human slag heaps, piles of adolescent tailings heaped to the side of the real business, the high grade ores of acquisition, of war. And although these children are systematically maimed and die every day, I see no equivalent convulsion of outrage dominating the news media.

The children of Sandy Hook were killed just as surely by the society that bore them as the children of Syria, the children of Iraq, the children of Utoya Island. To demonize the shooters alone is to shift the blame from our own conscience, our own tolerance of the global status quo and those who keep it so. To legislate limited personal ownership of firearms, or entirely ban such ownership as the prima facie solution to the root cause of such violence is an exercise in absurdity, in willful denial. To make the symptom of a deadly disease unlawful does not cure the disease, although this method of governing seems to be little changed and equally exercised since medieval times.

All this is of no solace to the agony of the parents, the siblings, the teachers and the friends of these children. I write this not to belittle their grief, but to bring to bear the ongoing scale of the dying.

Obama spoke, and said, "We're going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics."

Interesting statement. I think it is fairly obvious from what I’ve written above the directions that “meaningful action” might take. So my query of you, Mr. President, is whether you will be directing the consideration of the nation to criminalizing the symptoms or actively treating the underlying causes. Regardless of the politics.

JSI

Guns don't kill people, but they help a lot. A similar tragedy happens recently in China, where the madman was using a knife. Result: some 20 kids hurt and recovering. You cannot avoid people going mad, but they would be less mortal if they cannot easily get automatic guns.
What is needed is health services for people with mental problems, identifying them at early stages of their illness (school?).

Secondly, majority of these people are looking to get a recognition and to be the protagonist of a shocking event. Now, those events are, unfortunately, magnified for press coverage. The life and whereabouts of the madman, together with their pictures are present on TV, newspapers, magazines, thus such people get what they were looking for. It will be a cheap beginning to trying to remedy this problem if media agree themselves to give not such kind of coverage. First of all, no name, no picture. Madman does not merit that kind of recognition. We will equally well informed by a paragraph saying that another massacre has occurred, that by pages of photos and text, usually highly speculative about the situation.

What the hell is that picture? I thought they had an image of the killer in mid-rampage until I saw more vested idiots in the background.
What is it America? Have you figured it our yet? Or do yet more children have to die brutal deaths in font of hundreds of others?
Of COURSE you have to turn your gun laws upside down and get them of the street, only a moron could miss that, but it won't be enough to stop the mayhem on its own. Violence and brutality is so deeply ingrained in your culture you don't even see it any more. A hundred million weapons won't disappear overnight, that takes years and a single-minded populace. You don't have that. Not even close. The power and money involved will ensure that guns are readily available to those who 'lose it' for a long time yet. Those who want to actually make a difference need to be willing to strip their gears throwing their minds into reverse. You need to change the way you think at the most basic level. Even those writing these articles aren't there yet. Look at the potency they clearly see in the very names of the weapons involved. 'Glock', 'Sig Sauer'. The latter will become a popular word. You will see them in more video games as the gun to have for a big job. It sounds exotic and vaguely James Bond. Very sexy. You might as well face it America, your culture is so screwed it would take a miracle to turn it around, and not the sort of miracle your vengeful god can provide. Gods are just an excuse for violence. You can't even see that yet. Stay tuned for a whole lot more dead toddlers. If you still need to debate about whether M16s are a good idea then you are a long way from getting to the roots of the problem. Such as WHY do these people lose it and go on rampages? You won't even ASK that question for years yet. Best thing to do is stay away from America.

Something is wrong in America. Terribly wrong. Obama gets elected and gun sales explode. How many million of guns are out there? 50 million? 100 million? What are guns for? To kill. Somebody gets mad. He loses his mind. He grabs a gun, or two, or three, and hundreds of runs of ammunition, and goes on a rampage. Violence is part of the culture. And now we have this terrible movie, Zero Dark Thirty that justifies torture. How can you justify torture to catch terrorists? I am sorry, but if you do that, you're worse than a terrorist. It's as simple as that. A terrorist kills, but does not torture. Torture is worse than killing. Yes, something is wrong with America. Osama bin Laden has won big. Unfortunately. Beyond his wildest dreams. He destroyed the soul of America. That the worst you can do to your enemy. And he did it. Americans must have the courage to go though a major soul-searching, and try to fix what's wrong. It won't be easy. But I hope they'll succeed.