Why is it headline news? It happens all the time.

[king1]

and here I was thinking it was because of that stupid second amendment, maybe the power and influence of the NRA, perhaps the various government lobby groups...  do you think any of that might have any influence on the state of affairs over there?

I think most of the power and influence of the NRA is just that they keep ramming the fact that making all the laws you like won't make a problem go away and so many people understand that and support the stance.

I think many (the other 326 million Americans) would actually question that validity and legitimacy of that position.

Personally I think legislation is the only way they can fix the problem.  Clearly the behavioural change needed in a certain sector of US society will not happen on its own, therefore the change required needs to be properly targeted with appropriate legislation and effective enforcement.  Mass shootings of this scale is a uniquely US problem and the status quo is not working...

Having said that deeply embedded behavioural issues of this nature could take a generation to change, so they need to start sooner rather than later...