The problem is, without a crystal ball to tell the future there’s no way to know what somebody is going to do, and even if they purchased some of them legally, they still could have gotten them just as easily illegally. This last couple was also found with bombs, so they could have used those instead. Freedom comes with risk, but then again, look what happened in France and they have very restrictive gun laws. I’ve never seen an oppressive government create a safer country, only more power for the oppressors.

Of course, the media never reports stories of people who successfully defend themselves or their families with a gun or any other weapon because that doesn’t create controversy and increase ratings. I have known people who lived in areas where not having a gun is a bad idea, but people who don’t live there don’t understand that.

Right now, US politicians on both sides of the aisle (I’m an independent, by the way) are scapegoating “THE MENTALLY ILL” as a way of dismantling the Constitution, and a lot of people on this forum have been reduced to the status of second class citizen to further that goal. And I get the impression from reading online comments and news stories that it’s even worse in some other countries.