Jeb Bush committed a mini-gaffe when, in reference to last week’s horrific mass shooting in Roseburg, Ore., he blurted out the phrase, “Stuff happens.” Those flippant words came at the end of an extended, pandering ramble about gun rights in front of a group of Republican voters. Essentially, Bush was saying there is not much anyone can do about these deadly attacks that now happen on an almost weekly basis.

Imagine if Jeb’s brother, George, had lifted that bullhorn at ground zero in the days after the 9/11 catastrophe and said, “Stuff happens.” It would not have been seen as a presidential profile in courage. On the other hand, a “Stuff happens” attitude might have kept the United States out of costly, ineffectual wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Arguably, that would have been a good thing.

Jeb Bush may have fumbled into a truth: A president cannot fix every awful situation. Sometimes, attempting a fix can even make things worse. Do mass shootings fall into that category, though?

Most Americans are appalled by the regularity with which these gruesome incidents occur. There is a dispiriting sameness to them: A social misfit with no friends and a grudge against the world buys a gun — in the case of the Roseburg shooter, 14 guns — and picks a locale — a school, a theater, a military facility, a church — where he proceeds to vent his anger and alienation by gunning down as many innocent people as he can before the police show up and stop him.


Generally, there are three remedies proposed to deal with this terrible phenomenon. The National Rifle Assn. insists the answer is to put more guns in the hands of teachers, students, ministers — pretty much everyone — so they can fight back when an attack happens. Liberals argue for tougher gun laws to make it harder for men with twisted minds to obtain weapons. And people across the political spectrum say there should be a better system to deal with the mentally ill. Each of these ideas has serious limitations.

Even though Umpqua Community College, the site of the Roseburg shooting, is a “gun-free zone,” several students told reporters they had guns with them on campus. None rushed to confront the shooter, however, and one of those students, a military veteran, gave a sensible explanation. He said he refrained from using his weapon because he feared the police would mark him as the bad guy and shoot him by mistake.

Obviously, these situations are more confused and complex than a showdown at high noon in an Old West movie. The addition of more guns to the equation does not guarantee a better result. And plenty of people are repelled by the idea that packing a pistol should be a requirement to safely navigate public spaces. Do we really need to arm ourselves as if American towns are as treacherous as Mogadishu or Fallouja?

What about more gun laws? A majority of Americans support universal background checks, better regulation of gun dealers, liability insurance requirements for gun owners, smart gun technology and other measures. Although the most shrill 2nd Amendment defenders will scream about their rights being taken away by an oppressive government, efforts to better manage gun ownership would almost certainly reduce the horrendous number of deaths attributable to firearms, numbering more than 90 every day of the year.


However, 60% of those gun deaths are suicides, with the rest attributable to domestic violence, accidents, inner-city gang killings and general criminal mayhem. None of the proposed tougher regulations would have prevented the vast majority of the mass killings. The killer in Roseburg bought his guns legally. The only thing that would have stopped him would be a complete firearms ban. After several mass shootings in Australia, guns were outlawed in that country and there has not been a single mass shooting since.

The problem there is obvious: It ain’t gonna happen. Even if one thinks repeal of the 2nd Amendment and confiscation of all guns in private hands is a great idea, does anyone think there is even a remote chance that the USA will go the way of Australia?

Then there is the mental health factor. Yes, for a host of reasons, this country needs to have better treatment of troubled minds, but, short of locking up every one of the thousands of depressed, antisocial men in this country, mental health experts say it is nearly impossible to identify the very small number of them who are prone to pick up a gun and start killing.

It is a terrible quandary with no obvious solution. No wonder some people — even presidential candidates — just shrug and say, “Stuff happens.”