Conventional wisdom won't work on mass shootings

Add the Ohio and El Paso shootings, as well as last week’s Garlic Festival mass murder in California, to the list of unfathomable occurrences where a sick individual chose to use the destructive power of a firearm to settle some sort of score.

More often than not, the score to be settled exists only in the shooters twisted mind.

The “good guy with a gun” argument fell short in Ohio, where officers were able to kill the shooter in 30 seconds, but that was too late to stop him from killing nine, including the killer’s sister, and injuring at least 26 others, some of which may yet die.

No shots were fired in Texas, where police arrested a young white man apparently bent on killing immigrants, driving 10 hours to kill 20 people in a Walmart and parking lot, sending 22 to the hospital, including one who died, and nine in critical condition, and wounding a 4-month-old child.

Last week, four died and 13 were injured in a mass shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in California, including the shooter, who reportedly killed himself after being wounded by police.

The threat of incarceration or even execution is unlikely to be a deterrent for someone who is ready to commit mass murder, often with a goal of self-destruction as well.

Two survivors of the Garlic Festival shooting reportedly survived last year’s Las Vegas mass shooting, which resulted, finally, in the banning of “bump stocks,” which could make a semi-automatic rifle mimic a fully-automatic weapon.

It’s time to look at reinstatement of the federal ban on high-capacity magazines, a law which was in effect from 1994 to 2004, which banned magazines with a capacity of more than 10 rounds.

While that would certainly not prevent mass shootings by twisted and sick individuals, it would at least limit their destructive ability.