Trump's views before he got into politics.

'It’s often argued that the American murder rate is high because guns are more available here than in other countries. After a tragedy like the massacre at Columbine High School, anyone could feel that it is too easy for Americans to get their hands on weapons. But nobody has a good solution. This is another issue where you see the extremes of the two existing major parties. Democrats want to confiscate all guns, which is a dumb idea because only the law-abiding citizens would turn in their guns and the bad guys would be the only ones left armed. The Republicans walk the NRA line and refuse even limited restrictions. I generally oppose gun control, but I support the ban on assault weapons and I also support a slightly longer waiting period to purchase a gun. With today’s Internet technology we should be able to tell within seventy-two hours if a potential gun owner has a record'

Prepare for Trumps "If all the audience had guns this could have been prevented" bulls***.

While there is a long way to go to put a meaningful dent in the volume of guns in circulation, you can't get there until you start. Clinton's "assault rifle ban" that was allowed to expire under Bush (Jr.) did a lot more than "ban" assault rifles, it limited the size of magazines to 5 rounds - something that would have saved some kids in Sandy Hook Elementary as that shooter had 30-round clips so only had to reload 5 times to fire his 150 rounds. Many kids escaped from the gunman in the few moments available when he was reloading.

If you fire a taser, is sprays out "confetti" that contains a unique serial number. It's very easy to trace when, where and by whom the taser round was bought with this simple identifier. It's entirely possible to do this with bullets, too, we just choose not to.

There are simple baby steps we can take to start things along a better path. You don't have to go door-to-door to confiscate guns, you just start ring-fencing guns, magazines and ammunition. You initiate universal background checks for all gun sales (something about 90% of Americans agree on). You register all guns in the process; we have to register cars, so why not guns?

None of the above will have a direct impact on a legitimate gun owner - save a few bucks in license fees. My father-in-law has a hunting rifle (for deer) and a shotgun (for grey doves) and an assault rifle because the Texas outback is plagued by wild hogs that have no natural predators, can weigh up to 200 lbs and run at 30 mph - a bolt-action hunting rifle or a shotgun loaded with birdshot is not going to stop one of these beasts if he comes at you - which they do. But with all that, he can register all those guns, equip them with a 5-round magazine and use the identified ammunition. That way, we all know that these guns are in the hands of a responsible owner and not loose on the streets.

Edited by Ray in Houston (02 Oct 2017 3.22pm)

To quote Det. Somerset: "For once, you and I are in total agreement."

The gun lobby noise machine will crank up to 11, the main tactic being that now is not the time to talk about guns, the media will present equal time to pro and con arguments and this will pass...until the next big one.

Meanwhile, Trump has tweeted his "warmest condolences" to the victims and then went on a multi-tweet rant about the shooter's race and culture. Oh wait, the shooter was an old white guy who lived in a golf course retirement community, so the second part didn't happen.

Considering the speed at which these incidents go viral these days, has anyone seen a corpse yet?

There were some clips on YouTube that may have now been taken down. For the most part, people put down their phones and ran for cover.

Death toll now 58, maybe 59, with 515 reported injured.

Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut says that "thoughts and prayers" from Congress will ring hollow until it gets off its "ass" and do something about gun control. A House Representative from Massachusetts, has said that he will - once again - boycott the House's moment of silence for the victims, because now is not the time to be silent about this.

We'll see if there's any traction. Trump read a well written speech that said nothing about gun control. Alex Jones has already claimed this to be a false flag attack in order to promote gun control (he said the same after Sandy Hook). Supposedly ISIS has claimed responsibility, but there is no credence to that claim.

The shooter had 10 rifles in his room.