abusing tragedies

It would seem as though another deranged murderer decided that it would be better to go out with a bang, than have the decency to just go ahead and shoot himself, since that seems to have been the ultimate goal:

The death toll now stands at 12, including the gunman. Others citizens and law enforcment officers were wounded as McClendon drove though town firing shots at anyone in his path.

My sympathies and prayers are with the families of the individuals murdered or injured in this most recent shooting, but I have to confess that the analytical side of my brain is in the same boat as Jay G. Even though the news from this event is still filtering down through the various channels, I can almost guarantee that an anti-firearms, anti-rights organization will have some manner of press release out today, proclaiming that none of this would have happened if X law/ban/restriction had been in place. Unfortunately, in this particular instance, even enforcing the firearm-related laws we have on the books now probably not have helped.
Information is still sketchy about the murderer (who, as I have done in the past, will remain nameless here), but, so far as I can tell from the above local reporting, CNN, the AP, ABC, and BBC, the shooter was legally eligible to own the firearms he used to kill those eleven people. No mention of past criminal records is made, nor has anyone reported any indications of past mental imbalances, and while the police might not have ncessarily released that information, I feel certain that the “authorized journalists” would have dug it up by now.
However, even while current firearm-purchasing laws would not have prevented this tragedy, it still remains illegal to murder anyone, whether you are using a firearm or not. And yet this deranged killer went out of his way to murder eleven people, before finally killing himself – if he had such low regard for not only laws, but also other human beings, why would he care if the firearms he used were illegal or otherwise regulated? Or why would he care about illegally procuring banned firearms or equipment if he was about to turn around and use those firearms and equipment in an illegal manner?
Abridging the rights and freedoms of law-abiding citizens would no more have prevented this incident than the Prohibition stopped alcohol consumption. Even worse, those abridgements would only be followed by the truly law-abiding, leaving those with criminal intent still armed, still dangerous, and facing an even larger population of unarmed targets.
I am very sorry for those families and friends affected by this tragedy, and I sincerely wish it had never happened. However, using this event as a springboard for more and/or tighter laws restricting firearms and access to them would be just as wrong as trying to portray all gun owners as murderous lunatics based off the actions of this one murderer.
But something tells me that will not stop some people from trying. And that something is right.