The shooting came just as VP Joe Biden was set to meet with representatives from gun owners’ groups (1:45PM). He’d been meeting since 11:45 with sportsmen and women and wildlife interest groups as part of the Administration’s effort to develop policy proposals after the Newtown massacre.

Expect the usual suspects to claim that the US government is preparing to confiscate guns, even circulating a claim that the military has drawn up plans to confiscate guns, even though gun control does not mean gun confiscation.

The gun lobby has no intention of wanting to reduce the number of guns sold, and every attempt at a registration/management scheme to prevent guns from falling into the wrong hands is met with a selling binge, which has to make one wonder who is buying all these additional guns as though they’re suddenly going to sprout new hands and arms to fire all of their cache simultaneously.

They want to perpetuate the existing system, which isn’t so much of a system as an engine to higher gun manufacturer profits. They’ve found that the current level of violence is perfectly acceptable - claiming that it is the fault of Hollywood or video games ring hollow when these same manufacturers have no problem licensing their designs to the same video games and Hollywood types to derive even greater profits and royalties.

If manufacturers and wholesalers/distributors were held liable for firearms that came through the supply chain and ended up used in crimes (such as firearms that get diverted or are sold in sham sales), you’d be damned sure that they’d be all for any kind of database to prevent/limit their liability going forward.