What Stockman is saying is that any new regulations aimed at reducing gun violence against children are unacceptable. What that tells me is that he does like the status quo, and that deaths of children are not sufficient motivation to change it.

I don’t doubt that rural conservatives love their children. The problem is that they don’t love other people’s children and so don’t care if other people’s children get shot due to gun violence that would be preventable through legislation or executive order.

To put it another way: What are you willing to give up? How much of the anti-gun wish-list would you be willing to take permanently off the table in exchange for the other side putting things on the table that make them uncomfortable? Democracy requires compromise, something we haven’t had nearly enough of lately, and one prerequisite for serious negotiation is a belief that any compromise agreed upon will be respected in the long term. If we don’t build that belief, there are enough people on either side of America’s culture war to destine us to permanent gridlock. Republicans are having to deal with the fact that they can’t dominate national politics by appealing only to the 30% of the voters who are white males. You also can’t dominate national politics by telling the 41% of voters who own guns that you think they are scum.

While history may repeat itself approximately, it’s simplistic to take Sandy Hook and expect the next mass-shooting crime (or attempt) to be exactly the same. Effective response requires imagination as well as understanding.