As a American,I often think about how the US is perceived by other countries concerning the stunning and horrendous amount of mass shootings that occur in the states. We are a relatively young country not far removed from the wild West days,the right to bear arms has morphed into us being armed to the teeth "just in case". We have a powerful NRA lobby that effectively thwarts any legislative changes.This explains the sheer amount of guns in our country.What is doesn't explain is how the hate filled darkness that permeates the soul of these people to randomly execute multiple innocent people. We've all blamed the usual suspects,realistic video games,violence glorified in movies and television,etc.,but is has to be something more than that. People who are unhappy and don't want to live any longer use to commit suicide 25 yrs ago it seems to me. I vividly remember a mass shooting in a Post office way back and it led to the term "going postal",then two kids who were shunned as outcasts by their peers did Columbine. Since then it has become more and more common as the years have past to where we are now when this happens weekly or even more. The process that occurs in a distraught individual's mind that makes it a rational action to murder as many people as possible before putting the gun to their own head is a level of hate and darkness that I can't comprehend.