I'm having problems today with the server that hosts this site and I now see that a message I posted earlier about the tragic shooting in Colorado didn't get up here. Basically, it said that I didn't have anything to say beyond the obvious. Very sad. Very scary.
Those thoughts — sad and scary — would also apply to these messages I'm suddenly seeing from folks who are saying this could have been stopped (or the killing, minimized) if everyone there had been armed. Pro-gun arguments seem to always flow from two premises, one being that absolutely anyone who wants them should be able to obtain and pack as many firearms as they want. The other premise is that these people will all become expert marksmen, will know precisely what to do within one second if trouble erupts and will remain calm and heroic in those situations. This is a skill set that not all policemen possess even after extensive training but it can apparently be acquired from watching a few Clint Eastwood movies.