Gutfeld: A leader's platitudes offer no protection

It's easier to commit violence than prevent it

So President Obama said this on yesterday's murders, quote, "What we know is that the number of people who die from gun-related incidents around this country dwarfs any deaths that happen through terrorism."

And so after such crimes, the ping pong begins. One side says one thing, the other side responds. Then of course, Piers Morgan embarrasses himself. Rinse and repeat.

But the fact is deaths from mass public shootings over the last 15 years are much smaller than deaths from terror. As for these gun-related incidents, that's a euphemism that blurs the number of rare acts. Much gun murder is gang-related, which rarely makes headlines. We all agree that crazed loners shouldn't have guns, but that's not gun control, that's people control. Of the 317 million, thousands -- thousands -- do horrible things.

So as gun violence declines by decade by decade, ridding it entirely forces us to do three things. One, confront gang violence. Eliminate gang shootings, thousands will live. Two, confront mental health issues. Egged on by alienation and envy, young male assailants express murderous impulses, perhaps because such impulses are constantly simulated and stimulated. Which leads me to this: the media's role. Fiends share a thirst for infamy, copying a prior fiend, the Pavlovian response to the reward, which is always fame. They prefer their gravestone be a Wikipedia page.

Finally, in a free society we must admit, it's easier to commit violence than to prevent it. The background check did not catch this creep. Over half the mass public shootings involve killers seeing mental health professionals, who then miss the danger.

In sum, life is scary, but inaccurate platitudes offer absolutely no protection.