Don’t waste time calling for gun control

Mass shootings always cause reflexive calls for gun control. It’s easy and done as a dodge to keep from having to talk about harder stuff. Mass shootings are primarily caused by two things: terrorism and mental illness, and we ought to focus our energy on solving these problems instead of blaming the weapon. California has some of the strongest gun control laws in the nation and even still, San Bernardino happened in our state. Suggesting gun control as the solution when dealing with two trained jihadists is absurd.

We need law enforcement to improve its intelligence gathering (surveillance) and investigative techniques, and we require a better approach to the treatment of the mentally ill. Removing guns from our society is not going to happen. Under current circumstances, it’s no wonder there is a spike in gun sales as people arm themselves in self-defense.

Here are the facts: Terrorism is real, mental health issues are a major cause of gun violence and criminals will not obey gun laws. Instead of wasting time calling for more gun control, let’s focus our energy on identifying and solving threats from both the mentally ill and terrorists and develop a strategy to destroy ISIS quickly.

This story was originally published January 7, 2016 at 2:26 PM with the headline "Don’t waste time calling for gun control."