Mass shootings like Sunday night’s tragedy in Las Vegas have become outliers: horrific events that lead to almost no change. As Trump did on Monday, Republicans often respond to mass shootings with a benign lament, quoting Scripture, flaying evil and hoping aloud for the survivors. “All of those are pretty standard themes, but that’s what people want.”Even Democrats have been reluctant to use the first hours after a mass shooting to hammer their proposed solutions. Former President Obama was somewhat oblique when it came to his immediate response to mass shootings, although he forcefully backed gun restrictions at other times. Nearly three years later, after another mass shooting in San Bernardino, which was classified a terrorist event, he offered similarly mild sentiments.

Source: Los Angeles Times October 02, 2017 23:15 UTC