I have maintained for the last several years that this country is not run by either Democrats or Republicans; it is neither a Republic or a Democracy; it is a hegemony run by the NRA. If there is something the NRA wants, it happens, no matter who is in the White House or who controls the Senate. Guns on college campuses? Done. Guns in bars? Done. Concealed carry? Done. Doesn't matter how many innocent children are killed, doesn't matter how many important officials are targeted, doesn't matter what happens -- guns win.

When anything else proves to be dangerous, it is either removed from the market, controlled by laws, or fixed so it is safer. Not so guns. And whenever someone DOES manage to push through a gun safety law, it is gutted and reformed and reworded so as to be fundamentally toothless.

Hence laws like Florida's "stand your ground" law. Arizona's concealed carry in BARS. Guns on college campuses.

I am a gun owner. I know how to use a gun. I know what it is for (killing things). I would not object in the slightest if there were LAWS surrounding my owning and usage of a gun, and I think guns should be regulated and licensed just like that other dangerous weapon, the automobile.

But as long as the NRA can wrap itself in the 2nd Amendment, men will get away with murdering little boys by saying "it was self defense."