Don't want to run anybody's life, don't want any money I didn't rightfully earn, and I mind my own business and expect everyone else to do likewise. Seems like that is not too much to ask.
You would think so, wouldn't you, but the reality is that it seem to be entirely too much to ask of a LOT of people, both in the US and around the world.
EVERY religious and political zealot wants to run your life. and there are a LOT of them, of every possible permutation, from the zoning board that says you have to keep your lawn mowed to the radical jihadist who will happily kill you for the greater glory of their version of God.
And they ALL believe their way is the only way to the greater good.
There is NO way to look into the mind of man and know what he or she will do in the future. NONE.
The best we can do, is GUESS at what they MIGHT do, based on past actions.
NO screening process can stop the person who has not yet committed evil, but plans to in the future. No background check, no questionnaire, possibly not even a lie detector test can do that.
one report on the latest shooting said they got the ARs 3 years before the shooting rampage. (currently unconfirmed).
Putting people on a watch list because of what they MIGHT do is one thing, and arguable as to its ethics. (a no fly list is even worse)
Deny or restrict basic rights WHEN NO CRIME HAS BEEN COMMITTED by the individuals is simply wrong, and contrary to our claimed system of innocent until PROVEN guilty.
But, that's what gun control is. And a lot of people think its just fine.
I don't.
If you want to end terrorism, you have to end the terrorists, and what creates them. You can take the current 21st century route, limited strikes against identified individuals and overall "nation building" to improve their living conditions in the hope that different opportunities will remove the reason for terrorism. So far, it hasn't done that, because we still have these attacks happening.
Or you could use the method used in previous centuries, which is overwhelming force, kicking the crap out of everyone in the region to pointedly deliver the message, "if you do this, or allow others here to do it to us, this is what happens to ALL of you".
Brutal? yes. Collateral damage? HIGH
Effective? History says yes.
We think of ourselves a better than that, today, and don't seem to have the will to go that far. The people we are fighting think differently.