Today the Twitterverse is blowing up with that statement. “Nobody needs an AR-15.”

Well, forgive me for saying so, but it sure as Hell looks to me like somebody needed one on Monday and didn’t have one. It is assumed in the press – we’re not 100% sure yet because as I write this police still haven’t officially identified the weapon used – that one of these rifles (or one very similar) was used to kill 10 people in a Boulder, Colorado grocery store. We have little idea who this person is, other than he’s 21 and has been charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder; we know his name (no, I’m not going to publicize him), but have no clue what his motive was for carrying out this cold-blooded murder.

Was this an act of terror? We don’t know.

Was he a bullied kid who snapped? We don’t know.

Was this a targeted attack? We don’t know.

Was he another tragically mentally-ill person who thought he was defending Earth from space aliens? We don’t know.

Did he decide to kill people because an illegal ban enacted by Colorado was overturned? Yeah, probably not…

And yet, even before anyone was identified, even before the scene was cleared, came the calls to ban these so-called “assault weapons”. And once again, pro-2nd Amendment groups are being condemned as if they handed the weapon to this kid and pointed out the people he should shoot.

That’s because it’s far simpler and easier to blame the tool than it is the person wielding it. It’s much less complicated to say the “availability” of the rifle is what precipitated this horror, than it is to delve into the complexities of the human mind and the thought processes that could bring someone to commit such a heinous act.

So the only thing to do is punish those who had nothing to do with it, and pat yourself on the back congratulating yourself for your righteousness.

There is one person – and only one person – responsible for this utterly reprehensible act: The Shooter.

In all likelihood, whatever his motivation, the shooter had decided to kill long before he chose a weapon. Had the illegal ban still been in force, he would have chosen another method to kill. A U-Haul full of fertilizer, for example. Maybe pressure-cooker bombs, or some other IED. Some toxic substance. Firearms are not the only deadly weapons available to an evil mind bent on mayhem and destruction.

But none of that matters, because guns. And after all, we have the police to rely on. Never mind that they RESPOND to an incident. There’s an interesting catch phrase that’s overused but intrinsically and undeniably true: “When seconds count, the police are only minutes away.”

So, no, nobody needs an AR-15.

Until you do.