Devastated

The recent shooting in Sandy Hook Elementary was especially terrible, coming as it did on the heels of far too many others. I am hoping that we as human beings can do something so that this sort of thing will happen seldom. I am firmly convinced that banning assault rifles, rifles with big magazines that can fire many rounds rapidly, would be an important first step. In recent times, however, after a terrible incident, NRA and the gun lobby work hard to stop any changes. In a world where so many people live together in so many ways, we have to set up restrictions on ourselves.
Many people tell me how important it is that they carry a gun to "protect themselves." In many ways, I think it makes us much less as people. I do not like to think of living in a world where every carries a gun to protect him/herself. I ask the question, "Who are we afraid of?" Are we afraid of the guy across the street? We seem afraid of some nebulous someone who might do us harm. That makes it seem we are afraid of ourselves. I remember Pogo's admonition that "we have met the enemy and he is us."
Maybe there is somehow violence within us as humans. If so, how do we deal with it? I think we must somehow deal with it as human beings.