The only certain truth one can learn from what happened in the Pulse nightclub in Orlando on June 12th is that a lone homicidal maniac massacred 49 innocent people and wounded scores more.  His rants about ISIS and Islam add nothing to further our understanding.  His choice of weapons does not make a difference.  The social standing or sexual orientation of the victims make the tragedy no lesser or greater, lunacy is by definition not understandable in a logic sense.

Because the shooter was an adherent of Islam does not make Islam responsible for his act.  Because the majority of victims were Hispanic does not mean Hispanics everywhere should feel threatened.  Because the majority of victims were identified as having a variety of sexual orientations, it does not follow that all such folks need live in fear.  The firearms used in this atrocity could have been as readily used in defense had they been in other hands.

Tomorrow and every day, the overwhelming majority of Muslims will live their lives in quiet anonymity.  Hispanics everywhere will be unmolested, those with a variety of sexual orientations will go about their business and millions of firearms will remain holstered.

This is the act of a single, maniacal murderer.  His deranged state of mind limits our understanding because the rational of the peaceful, logical and ordered world for most of us is incapable of interpreting what we call crazy.

On average, 44 people are murdered in America every day.  Other than those families and loved one affected, we don’t ever learn their names or know their stories.  Every one of those murdered had a unique, single killer.  That means that 44 murderers reveal themselves every day as well.  Of those, about a third remain at-large which means every year in the US, over 5000 murderers remain free amongst us.

Omar Mateen was killed in the act of his horrific killing spree.  He can kill no more.  Every year, 5000 victims and their families have no such closure.  Their killers remain free amongst us and tomorrow another 44 victims and families will begin their mournful journey into the rest of their lives, all unknown to the rest of us.

To the degree that a solution is even possible, that solution must begin with identifying those amongst us that pose the greatest risk of crazy behavior.  In virtually every instance of mass murder, there were signs that those individuals were heading into the abyss of the insane and those who could have done something did nothing.

When reaction is the only response, the tragedy has already taken place.  Reaction solves nothing, addresses only our frustrations, and heightens our emotions when reason is the best remedy.