California School Shooter Had a 'Hit-List'

From Christine Pelisek’s article on The Daily Beast, I thought these two excerpts were of particular interest:

In the wake of the Newtown tragedy, NRA executive Wayne LaPierre drew criticism for suggesting that posting armed guards in schools could help prevent future shootings. Taft Union High School does employ an armed officer on campus, but he was snowed in on Thursday and did not make it to work.

In another ironic twist, the shooting happened just a few hours after the school held a staff meeting to talk about how to deal with shootings like the one in Newtown.

And this one later in the article:

“We can have all the gun control in the world but he was going to take [the gun] to school,” said Youngblood about the suspect. “It is an issue of mental health more than it is gun control. It is not normal to get a shotgun, walk into class, and shoot someone. That is not a normal reaction of someone who thinks he is being picked on.”

The barrier to entry for pirating music, movies, or software discourages casual piracy; it does not pose anything other than a minor convenience, if even that, to anyone determined to download Carrie Underwood’s latest album without spending a cent. The question, then, and Sherif Youngblood got to this point in the article as well, must be asked: “How much of a difference will stricter gun laws make?” The shooter at each and every one of these recent school shootings obtained the weapon from an adult family member or friend. How far must new gun laws reach in order to keep the weapons out of the hands of troubled young individuals, and at which point do the ends no longer justify the means?