If We Outlaw Assault Weapons . . .

. . . then only outlaws will have assault weapons. But the crazy people probably won't. It seems like that would improve our chances of not getting blown away at a movie theater or house of worship at least a little bit.

That's almost down to bumper-sticker size. It's always harder to explain nuance and common sense than to simply go for the gut. That's what crazy people do either with weapons of assault or just words.

The latest mass killing at a Sikh Temple was with a pistol - another semi-automatic even if not a rifle. We don't know why, but the indications are coming that once again, it makes no sense. It may take generations to change the hearts of America to convince each other that guns are not tools for problem-solving whether you're crazy or not. They aren't even that appropriate for self-defense:

The right of self-defense is justifiably used when civil government breaks down; but it is the task of all citizens to maintain sound civil government and to prevent the breakdown of orderly processes. Elder G. Homer Durham (LDS Lesson Plan, 1949) quoted at Keepapitchinin.org.

What good, solid, common sense! And a perfectly justifiable interpretation of D&C 134:11. Support the laws of civil society and call the police when necessary. The police saved lives, even with the sacrifice of one of their own, at the Temple in Wisconsin. The other alternative is to escalate the self-defense wars and have bazookas stashed in movie theaters or Sikh Temples, maybe behind the recommend desks at LDS Temples. (The shooter in Aurora was covered in kevlar and helmeted and only a lucky shot to the eye would have taken him out with a concealed-carry weapon as someone explained to me. And how, exactly, do you do that in a dark theater?)

The irony is that Sikhs carry daggers with them as part of their religion. According to the news reports, the religious leader at the Temple yesterday sacrificed his own life in an attempt to fight off the shooter with his dagger.

Or we could just wait for hearts to change.

I'm going to work on changing hearts as Governor Romney suggests. Sometimes laws help like the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that changed hearts to denounce racism. Of course there are those who now claim, like conservative intellectual leader Rush Limbaugh, that racism is now only directed against white people.

Wait. That might have been the Sikh Temple killer's complaint. Don't use his name.