I'm not using it as an excuse, my genuine reaction to spree shootings is to think about gun culture and gun control.

He could have used a knife, and probably would have killed a lot less people - wouldn't that have been a better outcome?

The fact of the matter is, you don't have problems with people using knives, cars or baseball bats to commit spree killings the way you have problems with guns, so equating the two doesn't make sense.

I know someone who has used heroin for over 15 years and yet holds down a job, has no significant health problems... does that mean I think heroin is ok? No, because I wasn't raised in a culture that encourages me to defend heroin.

Who knows, maybe I'm just brainwashed and I should cut smack a break, because even though it produces so much horror, some shining examples can make it work

You say gun control wouldn't make you safer, but the UK has strict gun control and IS safer. We had 32 firearms deaths last year, you had 9000. We have 62 million people, you have 330 million. 32 x 5 does not = 9000, so what's wrong with your country?