One of the most frustrating things I encounter on a regular basis is the idea that gun control is the obvious and natural response to high-profile shootings like what we saw last week at Florida State University.

Much of it is predicated on the idea that somehow, we all secretly agree that gun control works and are just opposing it for some other reason–which is far from true–and generally ignores our rights.

And it doesn’t make much for media outlets to tip their hands on that one, either.

CBS News, however, seems to go out of its way to do so.

Thursday’s deadly mass shooting at Florida State University has renewed cries for gun control in the state. 

Two people were killed and six were injured Thursday during a mass shooting at Florida State University‘s Student Union, officials said.

…

The Florida legislature is down the street from the university and is in session, but nothing will get done.

This then refers to a video that is supposed to involve some degree of “exploration,” but is really nothing more than a good minute and a half of Democrat Nikki Fried rattling on. There’s no give-and-take, no attempt to present the other side of the story, or anything else.

So, since Fried got all of the attention there, I’m going to touch on why “nothing will get done.”

See, what’s missing from this discussion is that there’s really no gun control law that would have stopped this shooting from happening.

First, the alleged killer is under 21, which means he couldn’t lawfully buy any guns at all in Florida. So, instead, he stole his mother’s old duty weapon, which was his primary firearm for the attack. He also apparently had a shotgun, which I’m still not sure where that came from, but we know he didn’t buy it at a gun store.

But he didn’t use a so-called assault weapon, so a law like that won’t do anything, and he reportedly fired fewer than eight shots, so a 10-round limit on magazines won’t do a damn thing, either.

The campus is a gun-free zone, so that didn’t seem to stop him, so it’s unlikely a repeal of something like the state’s permitless concealed carry law would accomplish a thing.

So, someone, tell me what gun control laws would remotely have prevented this awful tragedy?

I’m asking, but I know there won’t be an answer. There won’t be an answer because there isn’t one.

Had a student or staff member carried a gun lawfully, though, this whole thing might have ended before it really started. 

In fact, it might have been averted completely since it’s entirely likely the alleged killer picked FSU in part because it was a gun-free zone.

If we want to “do something,” the correct something–other than allowing students and staff to carry firearms if they wish, that is–would be to beef up mental health efforts. While I understand the argument that there are no serious mental health conditions present in mass shooters, I find that argument to be unconvincing. Sane people don’t try to kill people in job lots. The psychological field needs to find the commonality with these killers and look at it not under the existing paradigm, but look for a previously unknown condition that can be diagnosed and treated before these things happen.

Our rights aren’t the problem.

People who want to kill are the problem.

It always has been.