As someone who has now personally experienced a tragic, unnecessary death, I worry that the banner of libertarianism too often drowns out rational, middle-of-the road approaches to genuine harms. It is hard to imagine anyone who has lost a relative or dear friend in such a manner to see such innocent deaths as the price of doing business. Indeed, it is downright chilling to suggest this.

In the wake of the Santa Barbara killings and the recent revelations about sexual misconduct cases on college campuses, it seems embarrassing that certain anachronistic Ivy League clubs continue to operate under their ancient status quo.

The topic of mental health and the importance of mental healthcare need to be a regular part of the national conversation, not one that is only relevant for the few weeks after a tragedy.

Why? It's the first thing people want to know when tragedy strikes. Why us? Why here? Why now? Why this? Perhaps if we know the cause of a given tragedy, then we can prevent similar ones from happening in the future.

Australia's gun buyback program reduced the country's firearms stock by about one-fifth, which is equivalent to the U.S. reducing its national stock by 40 million guns. And while some weapons came from households with multiple firearms, survey evidence suggests that the buyback nearly halved the share of Australian households with one or more firearms.