Josh Campbell is a CNN analyst, providing insight on national security, crime, justice issues. He previously served as a Supervisory Special Agent with the FBI, special assistant to the bureau's director, and is currently writing a book on recent attempts by elected officials to undermine the rule of law. Follow him on Twitter at @joshscampbell. The views expressed in this commentary are his own. View more opinion articles on CNN.

(CNN) We live in an era where it is ridiculously easy for anyone with a grievance to get a deadly weapon and shoot people. And since feckless leadership from our policymakers has left us all with little confidence of any lasting change, each of us must unfortunately take proactive steps of our own to increase our chances of survival, should we encounter a situation like this weekend's deadly shooting in Jacksonville, Florida.

Josh Campbell

The grim reality is that increasing our situational awareness may be the difference between life and death.

There is still much we do not know about the 24-year-old man who opened fire, killing two young men and wounding nine others before killing himself at the GLHF Game Bar Sunday afternoon. But in the coming days investigators will pore over his life, digital footprint, and associates in an effort to make sense of this violence.

The national conversation will turn, as it always does, to potential warning signs, missed signals, and the availability of guns on our streets. There will be anger from the public at the carnage, then calls for action, and then elected officials will quickly move on to other issues once the latest tragedy recedes into memory, as we return to our lives -- helpless to do anything.

But are we?

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