Another week, another mass shooting

[Fisherking]

Some time ago people (at least in Europe) agreed that there is only one "third party" that has the right to violence, and that is the state. It (and only it) is supposed to see to it that no other party is violent. The USA settled on a different choice enabling all and sundry to carry weapons and thus broke (or never adopted) the state's monopoly on violence. These choices ultimately determined what we are witnessing now.

Mass murder is not that uncommon. What is uncommon is that this is the work of an individual. Usually it is carried out by groups and more often than not by governments.