For me, it's not the weapon I'm concerned about. It's the scum that use the weapon that I have an issue with.
Allow me to be the hypocrite and jump into this.
"the scum that use the weapon"
I'm not gonna google statistics or whatever on gun-related deaths in America, but think of it like this.
Here's the scale of madness and anger to me:
|==Psychotic==|==Violent/Aggro==|==Loud/Angry ==|==Pissed Off==|==Annoyed==|==Displeased==|==Bored==|
Now the ones all the way to the left....probably gonna kill someone one way or another. You introduce a gun to the situation, and suddenly everyone's probably gonna hurt someone badly. Even if they're a little angry. Even if they're just angry and careless. A gun only takes one pull. It's pretty damn hard to accidentally kill someone with a knife. It's hard to threaten someone with a gun, or try and make your point with a gun, or just bring it out to show you're serious, without something terrible happening.
You can say whatever you want about, well the type of people who would bring a gun into an argument are stupid and dangerous, but reality is reality. It should take a level of will and psychosis and a complete lack of empathy, awareness and consequence to kill someone. Not just opportunity and carelessness. Guns kill people, because it's too easy.
Only select parts of ^ those people might kill someone, but you give them a gun, and suddenly everyone could kill someone.
The reason why I don't think this conversation has a place here, because this was an elementary school and he was determined. Restricting guns in general might've changed things, but I doubt him having an assault rifle instead of a handgun creates much of a different outcome.