America's gun culture will outlast this tragedy - Telegraph.co.uk

Crucially, opposition to gun control is not limited to ideological lobbies. For many ordinary Americans, gun ownership is synonymous with self-reliance, and they inhabit a culture in which hunting has both mythic and popular appeal. Any effort to curtail significantly access to guns would not only face legal objections but also risk an ugly political war between town and country. Furthermore, the extraordinary saturation of American homes with weapons would limit the impact of any effort to reduce over-the-counter sales. Even if Adam Lanza had been banned from owning any guns on the grounds of mental health (some investigators have described him as suffering from a personality disorder) he could just as easily have taken them from his mother's private collection. Indeed, a number of her weapons are reported to have been used in the massacre.