The appalling events in Las Vegas in recent days have again raised the issue of gun control laws in the United States.
Will there ever be any improvement?
Brenda Power, columnist with the Irish Daily Mail, thinks things will only get worse.
"If America wasn't moved to significantly alter its gun laws after the murder of 20 small children, it never will. Not one single life will be saved after this, and people who are for gun ownership will probably feel all the more empowered."
"Clearly it's not about self-defence, it's about fetishism of some kind. Let's not pretend that this is going to change anything."
Richard Feldman, president of the Independent Firearm Owners Association, disagrees that it is a fetish and says that we need to question the kind of people who are acquiring guns rather than the law itself.
"There are three different parts to this issue - the negligent misuse of guns, the criminal intentional misuse of guns, and the crazy person misusing guns, which is clearly what we had in this instance. It's unclear whether he owned those guns legally or illegally, and that makes a difference in terms of adjusting the laws."
"I own well in excess of 100 guns, but that doesn't make me a bad person. I don't go around killing people."
