Cumbria and the media

The recent events in Cumbria have evoked the usual slurry of suggestions about banning all guns, 'lessons to be learnt' and the evergreen 'questions to be asked'.  The event itself was bad enough, but the media's craven response to this type of event remains the only constant in an otherwise depressing replay of our previous gun massacres.

The answers for dealing with anyone who is so depressed and unstable as to go around shooting people before killing themselves are fairly straightforward.  There's almost nothing you can do. This sort of thing happens - thankfully, not often, and we as a nation continue to slaughter far more per day on the roads than are ever killed by manics and maniacs.

On the 'lessons to be learnt' cliche, trotted out repeatedly by an unimaginative and time-worn media, there is only one: stay away from madmen with guns.  Otherwise ,Cameron's response was excellent.  We are long overdue a break from knee-jert reaction legislation.