Whenever a mass shooting occurs, especially at a school, two questions go through my head: 1) What kind of prescription medication was the shooter taking? 2) What kind of family life did the shooter have? It seems like the majority of time I can answer these questions without bothering to read the coverage. Firearms are, fundamentally speaking, tools. Tools do their masters' bidding, enabling those who wield them effectively to accomplish their goals or ends more efficiently. These goals can be productive (building houses, preparing food, etc.) or destructive (theft, murder, etc.). Throughout history firearms have been used for many productive purposes, especially hunting and self-defense (individually and nationally). This concept is not difficult to understand. We all recognize it in our daily lives. Many medicines and supplements are poisons if taken in excessive dosages, many household products can be deadly if not used carefully, many machines in facto...