I don't understand...

OK, I'm going to post this and not worry about who agrees with me.  I feel strongly about it.  This is a comment I wrote on Facebook on a friend's status on the day of the Newtown tragedy.  It's not very eloquent, but it's what I feel.

I just don't understand the strength of some people's resistance to gun control. I am ok with people owning guns, but I think it should be harder to get one. I also think that assault weapons should be restricted a LOT. Like to the military and that's about it. There is no reason an average private citizen needs one of those. A hunting rifle, sure. A handgun, ok in some situations. But something that is loaded in ROUNDS rather than single bullets has no purpose but to hit and kill as many people as possible in a short amount of time - not even skill in shooting required.

Sure, people will find ways of getting guns illegally, but if it's harder to get one there won't be nearly as many of them out there to be gotten. Just think how much less damage that Batman lunatic could have done if he'd been using a handgun instead. Even two-fisting it, he could not have killed as many people. Reloading takes more time, a person shot with a single bullet probably has a better chance of survival than one who is sprayed with many of them, and the time between shots would mean more time for hitting the deck.

I also think the issue of mental illness is the humongous elephant in the room every time a shooting like this happens. We haven't done anything about our gun policies, but at least we bother arguing vociferously about them for a few days afterwards. Almost every shooting like this involves known or suspected mental illness in the shooter. Sometimes the idea of mental health screenings for gun owners is tossed around, but you don't hear much talk about getting to the root of the problem. Why was this mentally ill person not getting treatment? Even when no violence results, untreated mental illness can cause a lot of tragedy and anguish, and we just ignore it.

So the usual steps are as follows:

1. Terrible shooting occurs.
2. People argue about guns.
3. No legislation or changes in policy occur.
4. Some time passes.
5. Another shooting occurs.
6. Rinse and repeat.

I probably sound cynical, but I really find this and other recent shootings, as well as the usual succession of events that follows, incredibly sad and frustrating. We could do something about it and we don't. And what am *I* doing about it? Just the same as everybody else, so I am no better. I feel entirely helpless and 20 children who were alive first thing this morning are now dead.