When a gunman opened fire at Oxford High School in Michigan on Tuesday, killing four students and injuring seven others with a 9-millimeter Sig Sauer semi-automatic pistol that police said his father bought just four days earlier, it was another tragic reminder that the government has failed to address the need for stricter gun control.

More recently, Republican state legislatures have been trying to make it easier not only to obtain firearms but to carry them around.

Republicans have repeatedly hyped up a phony threat of "critical race theory" when it is school shootings that pose a real danger to the physical and psychological safety of students across the country.

Yes, adequate safety measures in school buildings matter.

In 1994, the President, with the help of a Democrat-controlled Congress, overcame the National Rifle Association and passed the Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act, which made it illegal to manufacture, transfer or possess several categories of assault weapons.

Former President Barack Obama found gun control to be one of the most frustrating issues of his term.

After yet another school shooting in Michigan this week, it's likely we'll see the same dynamic play out once again, with renewed calls for gun control followed by inaction in Congress.