DAVID BROOKS:

Well, I think they are dim.

We're in the middle of a renaissance of gun laws in this country — 24 — more than 24 states have passed it, and almost all of them have loosened gun restrictions, not tightened gun restrictions. They have conceal carry and all those kinds of laws.

My own view on the issue is that we should probably pass all the gun control measures that are talked about, whether it's the gun shows, whether it's limiting the number you can buy. And, I mean, there's a list of about 15 programs, smart guns and all that, and most of them would be good.

And I think they would be good because I think they would reduce suicides, which is the really main form of gun death.

Whether they'd prevent these kinds of killings, I guess I'm dubious. Marco Rubio made a statement in the presidential campaign that none of the proposed laws would have prevented any of the recent mass killings. The Washington Post did a big fact-check on that claim, and they said what he said was accurate.

And so I'm for supporting these things. I'm not sure we should get our hopes up they will prevent things. One of the things I have been thinking about if we in the media just stopped talking about these people — this guy seemed to be a — we don't know what he is.

But a lot of the people who do this, they just want to become famous. They want to prove to the world they exist. And if we anonymize them — and it's hard to do, because you're always curious about the people.