I really shouldn't need a constitutional amendment; it just needs to be interpreted differently. People focus on this:

"the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed"

But forget that the above phrase is (I believe) controlled by what comes before it. The full phrase is this:

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed"

The authors clearly intended for the populace - in the 18th century - to be armed in lieu of a standing army. That need has long since passed, and therefore so has the right for the people to bear arms, in my humble opinion.

Also, multiple restrictions on this right have been approved and upheld as constitutional over the years: fully automatic weapons; military-spec weapons; nukes; etc. etc. etc. are all banned. So what we're talking about is moving the line on what's allowed and what's not, rather than repealing the 2nd Amendment.

The politics around this really are insane. Pro-gun activists gin up gun owners (mostly responsible hunters and the like) that Clinton W. / Obmama / Clinton H. is coming for your guns, and scream about ever tightening limitations on gun rights. The truth is that, since Clinton passed the assault weapons ban in 1994, there hasn't been a single restriction on gun "rights". And that ban was allowed to expire in 2004. The very things that were banned by that law - assault rifles and over-sized mags - have been used in multiple mass shootings since, including for the Aurora movie theatre shooting and, ever more heinously, in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

In the meantime, in the absence of any actual resistance to expansion of gun rights, gun laws have been pushed ever further and further. Concealed carry laws, to open carry laws, to "stand your ground", to open carry on school campus; all these are real things in America in 2015.

I seriously doubt that a Republican will win the Presidency in 2016. Also, it's very possible that the Deomocrats can take back control of the Senate because Republicans are defending the majority of the 1/3rd of the seats in play than are Democrats (the House is gerrymandered to such a ridiculous extent that power cannot shift there until after the 2020 census at least).

Regardless, gun laws will only change if there is a strong and consistent demand for change from the public. Politicians are mostly immune to public opinion, but every once in a while they are forced by the sheer will of public pressure to get something done. Gay rights have been sweeping across the states like a wildfire because they have 70+% support of the public. So do gun control restrictions (a simple background check requirement has about 97% approval) so, with the right amount of pressure, gun control regulations can be passed too.

The timing of this horrific crime may actually serve to make this finally happen.

With regard to Muslims who "refuse" to be integrated into British society, agree but only up to a point. Why would you want to integrate yourself into a society that's spent the better part of half a century acting prejudicially towards you? Although that in no way excuses violence, we've made a rod for our own back.s For years, we treated immigrants like second-class citizens and now we're surprised to find they've had enough and are fighting back. Is there a shortage of mirrors these days?

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Firstly these immigrants who refuse to integrate came here.....No one asked them to come here.....They choose to come here. So this stuff about 'don't be surprised when they react to prejudice' is complete nonsense. Prejudice existed here long before they turned up and we all suffer under it to some degree....It isn't an excuse.

This country is giving them by far the best chance they have compared to many options so there is absolutely no excuse for a insular non integration mindset.

They cause a problem for society that did not exist before them came here in anything like the same numbers....We literally have a section of fifth columnists within our society hiding underneath excuse culture by the left.

There are no excuses and there should be no hiding place. The fact that there is....Is entirely the fault of a section of the left in this country.

I think (respectively) you will find it is you who are wrong here Syd.
My Grandad came to London from the Caribbean and my grandmother arrived from Ireland and I can assure you nobody invited either of them. Both wanted to come here in order to make better lives for themselves but neither were invited and in the case of my Grandad, he was most certainly not welcomed but some.

Edited by Tom-the-eagle (21 Jun 2015 6.25pm)

Tom -- it's a nuanced point. Did someone send them a letter of invitation? Obviously not. If, however, you change national laws to make it easier for people to emigrate then that is considered (metaphorically) to be an invitation to potential immigrants. So in that sense, yes, they were "invited" and you are also right to point out that far more immigrants came from Ireland than anywhere else. On all other points we totally agree.