The Washington State Patrol says six people are dead and two are wounded after a shooting rampage. Police said the suspect is known for having mental health issues and that he was on a Mount Vernon watch list. Police said they believe the suspect is responsible for all eight shootings.
This is yet another tragic case where a mentally unstable person goes on a shooting spree, and his mostly unarmed victims are left out gunned. Anti gun rights activists will argue that this tragedy means we need more gun control laws. The fact of the matter is that a mentally ill person bent on committing murder will ignore gun control laws the same way they will ignore the laws against murder. Such laws, and gun free zones, only result in criminals or the mentally disturbed shooters having a monopoly on firearms.
Unless we are willing to spend the resources to have a police officer accompany every citizen at all times, it would seem to me that self defense (through concealed carry) is the only viable way of guarding against horrific events like this.