Regarding the idea of 'using tragedies to push political agendas': I understand that the Republican/Democrat divide can run very deep on this forum. I would hope that those on either side of the political spectrum would not dust off their own stance on gun laws and then apply it to this tragedy, but rather acknowledge the tragedy, and all that it entails, and apply THAT to their stance on gun laws. What's the point of politics if it's unadaptable? What drives politics if not turmoil and outcry?

If parties and their supporters were to put age-old sentiment above what's happening here-and-now, then there'd be no point to any of them. I'd like to see opposing parties (in the UK too) work together a little more in times like this and set out clear goals for tackling crime, instead of using every tragedy to bicker about everything hypothetical and trivial, and thus achieve nothing.