Will the wanton killing ever stop? Will the US take gun control seriously?

Given the racist animus against him on the part of some segments of the US population ("Did Obama Lose Votes Because of His Race?," The American Prospect"), it's unlikely a post-presidency Barack Obama would be the right person to lead a national campaign for stronger restrictions on gun ownership ("U.S. gun sales hit a record high since Obama's re-election," McClatchy Newspapers), but someone of his stature needs to take this on.

50 dead!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Early this morning in Orlando

-- "Orlando Pulse nightclub shooting: About 20 dead in act of terrorism, police say," Orlando Sentinel

Friday in Orlando

-- "Florida authorities say Christina Grimmie killer showed up at concert to attack her," Fox News

Orange County, Florida, where Orlando is located

-- "Orange homicides reach 50 in first four months of 2016," a story from early May

Chicago

-- "A Weekend in Chicago," New York Times, the article analyzes every shooting in Chicago over Memorial Day Weekend, more than 60 shootings left 6 people dead.  The murder rate in Chicago is the highest of any city in the US ("Chicago's Murder Problem," NYT; "
Chicago's murder rate soars 72% in 2016; shootings up more than 88%" USA Today).

Homicide up across the country

-- "Murders Are Up in Many U.S. Cities Again This Year," TIME Magazine, although much of the rise is concentrated in 12 metropolitan areas

Columbia native and artist Tripp Barnes, joined by Jennifer Pinckney, unveiled a wall mural at Redux Contemporary Art Center Friday, honoring her husband the late Rev. Clementa Pinckney.  Photo: Grace Beahm/Charleston Post and Courier.

Next Friday is the sad anniversary of the mass murder at an African-American church in Charleston, SC

"Artist unveils new mural of the Rev. Clementa Pinckney," Charleston Post and Courier

Alexandria, Virginia vs. Washington, DC

Earlier in the week, a man was murdered in Alexandria near a housing project and the local television news programs reported on the outpouring of anger and angst by Alexandrians (Alexandria community meeting planned after daytime murder"," WTOP radio). It was the city's third murder of the year...

So far this year, DC has 53 homicides, with 21 in Ward 7 ("'It's crazy out here,' resident says of violence in one D.C. area," Washington Post).

Australia

-- "Did gun control work in Australia?," Washington Post. A law banning certain types of guns was passed after a mass shooting in 1990. Some Australian states also engaged in gun buybacks in response to the change in the law. From the article:

So what have the Australian laws actually done for homicide and suicide rates? Howard cites a study by Andrew Leigh of Australian National University and Christine Neill of Wilfrid Laurier University finding that the firearm homicide rate fell by 59 percent, and the firearm suicide rate fell by 65 percent, in the decade after the law was introduced, without a parallel increase in non-firearm homicides and suicides. That provides strong circumstantial evidence for the law's effectiveness.