In light of another disaster where kids were killed, there exists a need to look at gun control.  But, the short answer to that is that we have the 2nd Amendment.   Yet with a dismal violent record in the United States, the situation must change.  And, it is a shame that people (kids) have to die in order to get to that realization.   However, there remain certain realities to the issue:

1) There exists no new action to curtail specific incidents. The young man in Newtown apparently stole his mother's firearms, shot her when she tried to stop him, went to a school (Do we know why? I reminds me of the shooter at the Amish school a while back.), shot his way in, massacred children, and as the coward he is, killed himself.  In the investigation of the incident and the one at Aurora, CO, there exists no new security tactics that should have been done on the scene.  These mass killers just squirmed in and began their carnage.

2) Yes, there are hundreds of millions of firearms. There is no way I can see to get even half of them. Even buy back gun programs done by police just scratch the bucket. And, any law made will not be retroactive.  So, the direct elimination of already owned firearms in the U.S. is not realistic.

3) The SCOTUS spoke in 2008 and 2010 with landmark interpretation of the 2nd Amendment which in their mind seemed to settle the issue if the common citizen could own firearms. I really do not see how automatics can be outlawed by these rulings. If we do not like this interpretation, then perhaps we should look at amending the Constitution.  But, the political climate will have to radically change.

4) Some people talk about making laws addressing the issue of mental health. The president suggested that if we have firearms then we should have a robust mental health program. But, there are many issues about implementing such a program.  Some types of mental illness causes a person to be violent.  And a violent person may not misuse a firearm.  So, what standards and checks will we use?  We are already banning felons from owning firearms. 

5)The only solution at this point is to change our mentality. We can definitely do better if we commit ourselves. Those who have firearms, like myself,  have a responsibility to stay well practiced. And, those who have firearms need to have a respect of their weapons. (Like a guy who left a gun shop and shot his son.)

6) But, there is a call to do something. With this, an assault weapon ban could be put in place.  The banning of high capacity clips seem to be on people's minds. I do not see how this can help because the person can just buy more clips.  The reloading of a clip can be practiced in sort order to take a few seconds if not even less. Still, I do concede having a 30+ round clip for a Glock is crazy. Then, there might be controls put on ammo. I guess gone are those days when one could get savings if that persons purchases 500/1000 round discount boxes.

7) Finally, education is needed. I believe with more money spent to keep kids in school will help. A better educated public seems to refrain from crime. Although, there is no way crime will be cut out. Still, schools provide a way professional can notice any mental illness-- although this will not be perfect.  

Added to background checks, which can always be improved, there really is no way to really change things specifically.