There is no easy answer, and I agree with everything you've said here, Pat. I think that people deserve the right to bear arms, if they wish to (for whatever reason that is). Besides "self-defense" shootings, I'd say the main cause of nearly any shooting (whether the killer is a teenager or a 50-year old man) is the parental influence. From an early age, when we begin to develop our personalities, we begin to emulate our parents. If they are violent, we too will most likely be violent people. In other cases, it could just be the environment the people live in. It is a very complicated issue, and the closest thing that I've heard to a solution was said by Chris Rock: "If a bullet cost $5000 there wouldn't be any innocent bystanders."

Thug