A man goes to the Family Research Council’s offices in Washington DC and starts shooting.

DC Mayor Vincent Gray doesn’t get it.

…a Herndon man who purchased a firearm on Aug. 9 and brought it “into our city,” Mr. Gray said Thursday on NewsChannel 8.

“He would not have been able to do that in the District of Columbia,” Mr. Gray said,

Not have been able to do what in “your” city? Because it looks like he certainly did. Now I grant, after reading Emily Miller’s trials in obtaining a handgun in Washington DC it’s a tough thing to do, but not impossible. Regardless, this man didn’t seem to care about any laws.

We already have laws on the books that prohibit murder.

We already have laws on the books prohibiting assault.

We already have lots of laws in the books that make it difficult for people to obtain guns and other weapons. Heck, we have laws that can make it difficult to obtain just about anything and everything. I mean, drugs like meth, cocaine, heroin… they’re all banned, but that hasn’t seemed to stop much.

“We don’t need to make guns more available to people,” Mr. Gray said. “There are irresponsible people, there are people who have mental health problems, and the easier access they have to guns the more likely we are to predispose innocent victims, like yesterday, to the use of the guns.”

Actually we do need to make guns, training, and a better mindset available to more people. Why? Because the reason this particular situation didn’t get bad was because someone was willing to fight back. Granted, the extreme cases of someone really hell-bent on causing harm are going to do what they’re going to do. But the vast majority of criminals – petty or large-scale – only do what they do due to lack of opposition. Consider many that do the mass shooting spree stuff… once the cops show up, they commit suicide. They don’t want opposition, they want easy targets. Most criminals wanting to mug someone will hit up the person with their nose stuck in their iPhone as they walk down the street, not the guy with his head up walking like the baddest lion on the plains. Why do most burglaries happen on weekdays between 10AM and 3PM? Because most folks aren’t home thus the burglar won’t face opposition. Why does the rapist attack the woman walking alone a night and not the group of women walking around together? They just want a quick score, not a righteous fight. Consider where many crimes happen — in gun free zones, in places where it’s promoted to curl up and die. It’s rare to see crimes in MMA gyms, police stations, NRA conventions. Why might that be the case?

I don’t disagree with Mayor Gray, that irresponsible people, people with major problems, should be better managed and helped with their problems. But we must remember, someone bent on destruction will do whatever — law will not and do not stop them. I recently read a story where a mass killing occurred via arson, with the arsonist using 2 gallon milk jugs filled with gasoline, and matches. Are we going to ban the corner grocery store? Are we going to require background checks and waiting periods and monthly rationing to fill up our SUV’s? I mean, if grandma’s got a cold, we’ve got laws to make it difficult for her to get a decongestant. We can’t travel in this country any more without being considered a possible terrorist. Why are we looking at addressing symptoms instead of addressing root causes? I grant because it’s easier to make yourself feel like you’re doing something if you can pass a law and ban some talisman of evil… but it doesn’t solve the problem, and typically only makes matters worse.

Mayor Gray, you have lots of laws. Washington DC still makes it immensely difficult for law-abiding people to live their lives. Your laws didn’t stop this from happening. No, what stopped this was a person willing to fight back and stop the madness before it became a tragedy.

If you want to do something to help, Mr. Gray, why don’t you enable good people to fight?