The government currently doesn't understand why the citizens need to own firearms, specifically assault weapons.
The purpose of the 2nd amendment was to ensure that the citizens of this country could stand up to any tyrannical display of power by the government. You say we don't need assault weapons? What are we to use against the government should they ever come knocking at our doors with those weapons or more? Are we supposed to be quietly subjugated over time through systematic weakening of our ability to revolt against the unjust?
Using recent murders as an excuse is pathetic.
Innocents must die for our rights to freedom, It is the way things are; if you say death is too high a cost to pay then you are in the wrong country.