The truth is that there is no one, simple, easy panacea answer to the things that have happened in Colorado-- the spree killings by James Holmes. People have blamed guns, people have blamed violent media, and people have blamed the lack of proper mental health.
Any one of these is a quick, simple, easy bumper-sticker answer. But in all likelihood, we won't be so lucky as to have a one-size-fits-all answer to the nasty events committed by Holmes. The truth may well be far more complex, and that is never satisfying to think about.
More:
First, let's take a look at spree killers through the years. Almost all of them exhibited, at some point or another, violent or aberrant behavior. Patrick Purdy (Stockton school shooting, 1989) was in and out of legal trouble, a drifter, couldn't hold a job or money, carried around Aryan Nations literature and failed two suicide attempts in prison.
James O Huberty, of San Ysidro McDonald's massacre (1984) fame, had a history of violent behavior as well. He and his wife had a household full of domestic violence, they encouraged their daughter to attack a classmate, and when a neighbor complained about his German Shepard dog scratching his car, he shot the dog in the head. He went to a McDonad's one day and was said to exclaim, "I killed thousand sin Vietnam, and I'll kill thousands more" before opening fire. He never served a day in any military.
Buford O. Furrow, Jr was a security guard and member of the Aryan Nations. He self-referred to mental health and as a result, a court orders his weapons to be confiscated. A parole officer assigned to the case never bothered to follow up, and eventually Furrow snapped and shot up a Jewish community center before going on to murder a Filipino postman.
At Virginia Tech, Seung-Hui Cho shot up a bunch of students with guns bought legally, despite having been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, being referred to counseling, and faced charges of stalking female students.
The "Gold Standard" among spree shootings is, of course, the Columbine massacre in 1999. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold exhibited erratic behavior for months before attacking, including being known and questioned for making and detonating pipe bombs. Brown's mother had called the cops on young Harris before, saying he was violent and dangerous. They got their weapons through a straw buyer, despite Harris growing up in a household that practiced strict gun control, not even allowing Harris as a child to play with toy soldiers or squirt guns.
The largest massacre carried out that was "home-grown" was the Tim McVeigh bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah federal building in 1995. In this case, not a single gun was used but rather, a "VBIED" ir Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device. Ironically, McVeigh was reputed to try to join a militia, but he was disillusioned with the militia because they didn't want to go on the attack, while the militia members didn't want him to join because he was too extreme.
There are others, but they will show a pattern-- people who exhibit problems and are unable to cope; people who have violent histories or exhibit bizarre or erratic behavior; people who have been found with The Turner Diaries (a white supremacist novel) or copies of books or videos from Glenn Beck and other right-wing agitators...
But the end result is this:
To an extent, we can cast the net of blame wide. We can (and should) look at the way media portrays violence, as a satisfying/gratifying cure-all problem solver that lets the plucky hero save the day, get the girl, and ride off into the sunset. We should ask about media that allows people to spew hate and intolerance but then allows them to back away when something happens and say, "that wasn't me; I'm not responsible for what my readers/listeners/watchers do". It has an effect, and to pretend otherwise is bull. This is not a call for censorship, that obviously won't wash. But sometimes I do have to wonder if it wouldn't be worth it to put an announcement before an action movie that says something like, "This is a work of fiction. It is a drama where violence is used to solve problems. In reality, violence is not the best way to solve problems. If you have a conflict with someone, either talk it out rationally or consult a professional mediator near you". Cheesy? Maybe. But I can't help but wonder.
We can also blame the lack of mental-health care, the people who refuse to fund it, a culture that refuses to talk about mental health problems realistically, and the inexcusable laxity in corroborating mental health records to firearms purchases. Many of these killers had mental-health "red flags" that should have barred them from the purchase of any weapons at all.
And while I am a gun owner, I can also say that gun laws should be looked at. People should be trained in both safety and legal responsibilities, then have a test (both written and range), and then they carry a license. Certain types of mental or criminal problems should be entered into a synchronized system immediately that would bar a dangerous person from access to weapons. To this day, many states have zero prerequisites for getting a concealed handgun permit, while other states have very reasonable standards, and yet others have such onerous and difficult standards that the only way to qualify is if you have "connections" (looking at Chicago, for example).
I don't believe we should ban all weapons any more than I think we should ban violent movies or videogames-- such thinking is going back to that "seeking a simple solution" that will never truly be implementable. We should eschew knee-jerk reactions and take a look at where the system has truly broken down. It has broken down in many ways, small ways that are systemwide, and large ways that are systematic.
There are many complex pieces to this puzzle. Not all of them fit together, while some fit together all too easily. I personally think that the biggest problem is the one focusing on mental health-- which is ironic, since it is the shortest paragraph above. But the problems our society has in dealing with mental health issues could fill a hundred diaries and still just scratch the surface. It is stigmatized and hidden, and a lot of people slip through the cracks because no one wants to talk about it.
But discussion needs to be had.