Having been in the Army, I've lived many years of my life with the M-16 Rifle used in many of these mass shootings. It is an inferior weapon by any standard. It was used in Vietnam in the 1960s.

What makes it interesting to mass murderers is its association with war making power. There is a mythology behind it. This unconscious association with war making power is what drives people to use it.

Certainly, American gun laws can be better and more restrictive, especially interstate laws, but unconscious mythology will still be there. Most of the laws proposed do little to stop mass shootings. Perhaps the only good law proposed is to stop children under 21 from buying a gun. There is no good reason an 18 year old should own a gun without parental supervision.