Many details about mass shootings, like Sunday morning’s in Orlando, Florida, remain mysterious. But one known fact has shown up again and again:
Not only were each of these shootings carried out using AR-15-style assault rifles—the weaponswereallpurchasedlegally. It is extremely easy to obtain, no hoop-jumping required, a machine designed to kill many living things in a short amount of time. In Florida, it’s easier to buy an assault rifle than a handgun. Unless that changes, there’s no reason to think the frequency of shootings involving these deadly weapons will continue in any direction other than up.