I don't think the problem is so much the guns as the culture of violence.

[GreenPartyVoter]

105. Agreed. I think this is more about people feeling they have no voice

and wanting to make the largest, most painful noise they can. I think it's as basic as, "I am hurt, pissed whatever, and I want everyone else to be too." (I was bullied for most of my youth, but I turned those feelings inward on myself and joined my attackers in hurting me. I can see how easy it would be to turn it outward, though, onto other people.)

However, I think the other part of the equation is still access to weapons that kill many people at once. Perhaps people in the past felt just as angry, but did they have the same access to ways of murdering large amounts of people quickly? Explosive devices are the only ones that come to mind. If someone came through a school or movie theatre with an axe, it would still be devastating, but more people would have a chance to escape. Assault weapons lessen the possibility of escape just by their very nature. Maximum damage in minimum time.