This is basically splitting two ways, with the right blaming an inept foreign policy and radical islam, and the left blaming American Christians for promoting a culture of hate, blaming guns, and blaming pretty much everyone except the jerk off who did the shooting. If we are vigilant, I believe we can weather this. Here’s some of what’s being said:
“After Orlando, We Must Ask How Our Society Got This Way”
You First, Whoopi: “‘The View’ Talks Orlando; Whoopi Goldberg Tells Second Amendment Supporters to ‘Back Off’” There’s one person who’s responsible for this act, and that guy is dead. American gun owners are sick to death of having this shit pinned on us, and we’re not going to take it anymore.
Kansas City Star: “Gun industry, NRA leaders and Congress have enabled killers in America.” Any time they try to make this about “the gun industry” or “gun lobby” they are marginalizing your voice and marginalizing you.
Hartford Courant: “Ban Assault Weapons Now.” They are doing the same thing they did after Sandy Hook. This will awaken our people in huge numbers and they will get nothing.
President Obama is pushing the gun control issue hard.
“Orlando Shooter Used Same Weapon as Past Mass-Shooters: The AR-15”
“Orlando shooting changes US presidential election” Notice a pattern? They aren’t calling it Orlando Terrorist Attack.
“Obama warned just 11 days ago that an ISIL sympathizer could get a gun in the US”
“The AR-15: the most popular rifle in the US”
“Trump says assault weapons needed for protection”
“Clinton calls for ban on ‘weapon of war’ AR-15 assault rifle”
Clinton on Orlando Terror Attack: ‘We Can Not Fall Into The Trap Set By The Gun Lobby’
Christie Todd Whitman: “From what we know now, the shooter had acquired his automatic weapon legally just days before the shooting. Who, besides law enforcement and the military, really needs a fully automatic weapon?  Really.” Please educate yourself, Governor. This was not a fully automatic assault rifle here. This was not a weapon of war. She was elected in part because of Jim Florio’s assault weapon ban, then promptly proceeded to do nothing when she got into office.
Of course she does: “In Wake Of Orlando Shooting, Clinton Suggests Broader Terror Watch Lists” We’ll all be suspected terrorists before too long. And who’s to stop them?
The anti-gun folks really have no clue, do they? This isn’t going to energize their base any more than it already is. It’s just going to give more sound bites for the NRA to plop into communications to GOTV for Trump and Congress.
People who have been disarmed by law can hide in the bathroom and wait in terror to die. People who have not been disarmed by law can shoot back and have a chance to live. I’d prefer to take my chances.
As others have noted, we’re told not to judge an entire religion by the acts of one extremist, why is it valid to judge all gun owners by the act of one extremist?
In other words, pay no mind to the killer’s religion, concentrate instead on the tools he used.
FYI: Stealth on the Whitman editorial. They left it as “automatic weapon,” but changed to the following rhetorical question to, “Who, besides law enforcement and the military, really needs a weapon designed for the battlefied?”
Saw an interesting, and close enough, argument to be worth noting: equating “you should have been carrying” with “you shouldn’t have been dressed provocatively” – both equated to victim-blaming.
I will note that a nightclub (at least the one or two I’ve been in) are probably about the worst places to hold a firefight where you’re concerned about collateral damage; not to mention it’s a venue where visitors endeavor to carry the least amount of “stuff.” ID, some cash, a credit card, and maybe your car keys.
Obviously, banning guns for the law abiding isn’t a fix for the problem. However, neither is changing foreign policy, at least within the realm of likely changes. And many of the other ideas supported by both right and left, like the no-fly list, stigmatizing the mentally ill, or restricting Islam, are likely unconstitutional or would be if the courts do their job. The one thing that does work to mitigate causalities is fighting back. While it can be done without weapons (e.g. Flight 91), it works better with weapons. So my notion is that the priority should be eliminating restrictive licensing regimes and scaling back gun-free zones to obvious security risks, like prisons. It may also have a deterrent effect but even if it doesn’t, causalities will be reduced.