Coombz, do you really think the people who had intentions of committing those rampages would really be stopped by conventional gun laws?
Possibly, they are different from habitual criminals and gang members who generally have much easier access to firearms.
Maybe they'd just go quietly crazy and off themselves. But instead it is VERY EASY for them to end the lives of A LOT of other people.
I just don't like it being so easy to take someones life. Guns make it very easy. In the UK where they have gun control laws in effect it's not a case of all the criminals being armed with guns and everyone else being preyed on at will. The criminals find it hard to get guns, and they use other weapons - still bad, but not as quick or easy to kill innocent people with.
Gun control doesn't stop crime or violence, and I wouldn't expect it to. As already mentioned we are a violent species and people will always find ways to hurt each other. But it's not so easy to kill a large number of people with so little effort as it is in a place where guns are widely available.