First and foremost, my heart and my prayers go out to everyone effected both directly and indirectly by this senseless tragedy.
That being said, I see all of this talk about gun control and I feel compelled to give my two cents.
First and foremost we need cannot allow fear of guns or the desire of owning guns to cloud our acceptance of reality. The reality of a tax for gun owners is that we are just handing the government more money to be misappropriated. Insurance on a gun? Again we are just letting someone have more money that we don't have.
In truth adding any monetary responsibility does only one thing, it gives less power to people and more power to money.
Any one of us can become a victim at anytime, why should only the wealthy person have the option of buying a gun to feel a bit more safe and secure? That's crud.
The reality is that anything can be used as a tool of pain and suffering. A door is meant for privacy and to keep the elements (heat, cold, rain, ext..) out, however I could easily put someone's head in the door jam and repeatedly bash them until their body expires. Shoelaces are meant to keep your shoes tight and on your feet, but if I was so inclined I could strangle the life from you with it. Man has the potential to manipulate the most peaceful thing into an killing tool.
My point is that everything can be used for good or evil yet we do not fear everything or tax everything just because of what it has the potential to be used for.
There is no way for us to be one hundred percent safe. Your house could fall on your head at any moment.
Background checks and mental evaluations are our best bet at gun "control" but even they are flawed.
An insane person is not born, they are molded from their life experiences. Sanity and no criminal records are things that can change overnight.
So where does that leave us? Get rid of guns?
No!!!. Even if it were possible to eradicate every gun on the planet, you can't stop me from understanding the principals of how a gun work, thereby giving me the potential to make my own.
My call would be background checks and psychology exams twice a year for all gun owners.
It's the best we can do.