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"A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." -Second Amendment to the United States Constitution. The security of a free state. Well that makes a lot of sense today, doesn't it... I know I'm going to make a lot of enemies right now, a lot of you will think that it's "not the time" and "too soon" to ask, but the thing is, every time a tragedy like this one - I'm not sure "like this one" is the right wording here because this is beyond everything we've seen so far - but every time it does, everyone immediately says "not now, it's time to grieve". But once the grieving is over, the debate never really resurfaces... not until the next tragedy, when it reappears and is almost immediately set aside, in an absurd vicious circle. I'm sorry if I am going to offend you, and I suggest that you stop reading now if you really want to avoid the topic of gun control. So I'm Canadian. You can obtain firearms here in Canada, but the types which you can obtain are much more limited, and you have to go through a lot of bureaucratic hoops - including background checks and inquiries with your relatives - before you can obtain one. There are also strict rules on how you must store your guns, use them and transport them. In the end, hunters can still hunt, and you can even go to the gun range for target practice. Technically, you can even own a gun for "protection" at home (just not carry it in public), as long as you comply to ownership and storage laws. The first thing every gun rights advocate says on the issue of gun control is that "if I don't have the right to own a gun, the criminals will still obtain one illegally and have the upper hand". We have criminals here too. And yes, they do obtain firearms through illegal means. But, strangely enough, murders, shootings and home invasions are still rare occurrences here, and even more so outside of criminal VS criminal crimes. Hell, big cities like Montreal and Toronto get yearly homicide rates that don't even come close to weekly rates in the largest US cities. Very few people here own guns (even if they could), yet everyone still feels much safer. Why? It's not really a question of rights as much as a question of culture. The most serious problem is America's gun culture. Think of American symbols, and guns probably won't be far down the list after the star-spangled banner, bald eagles and cowboy hats. It's time that the political powers that be reflect on this problem and stop listening to the nutjobs who use phrases such as "from my cold dead hands". The problem is about being able to obtain a gun as easily as you can obtain a fishing rod. The problem is about thinking of your gun as an extension of your manhood. The problem is thinking you, your family and your property will be safer from outside threats as long as you own a gun (and will be proportionally safer according to the number of guns you own). The problem to view shooting guns as a fun hobby for the whole family, even bringing your kids to the gun range or in the backwoods to fire a pistol or a military-grade machine gun. The problem is thinking that waving a gun will magically solve any problem - that bringing a gun to a knife fight, fist fight, word fight, will immediately resolve the issue and make you a winner. The problem is to be overzealous in exercising your right to carry a gun by walking around in broad daylight with a machine gun and telling a police officer that he's violating your open carry rights when he's asking what you're doing - then posting the video on Youtube and praising yourself as a civil rights advocate against the evil police state/Obama/ATF/U.N. conspiracy. The problem is about thinking of your gun as an irrevokable right given by your forefathers, who needed to keep muskets to repel the assaults of the British, and who probably would have had second thoughts if they knew that one day, firearms that can fire hundreds of rounds per minute could be bought by Joe Everyman, and then used to walk in a school, or a mall, or an office, or a movie theater, or a church, and shoot everything that moves. 27 people died today. Of those, 20 were innocent children. This is beyond horror. Yet it's just another shooting in America this year. I just hope that these poor souls didn't go to heaven in vain. And that their families aren't mourning such unacceptable losses in vain, either. It would be an insult to their memories NOT to think - right now - about how America's gun culture is a serious problem that exposes a lot of innocent lives to another such tragedy that could happen anytime. R.I.P.