Commentary updated Oct. 5, 5:00 p.m.: MSNBC Live Vote: Should teachers be armed?

By Ken Hanson

In a rare moment of straighforwardness, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, a staunch gun control extremist, has acknowledged that stronger gun control laws could not have prevented the horrible shooting at the Amish school in his state.

During a press conference, Rendell stated, “I believe with all my heart that we need more gun control.” But he went on to acknowledge that tougher gun control laws would not have prevented Charles Carl Roberts IV from carrying out his deadly attack, admitting, “You can make all the changes you want, but you can never stop a random act of violence by someone intent on taking his own life.”

Despite this, due to the current rash of school shootings, America is going to be inundated with lists from media talking heads and/or government taskforces/hearings (including a taskforce called by President Bush for next week), each list itemizing steps that need to be taken to protect the children. Since we are a short attention span culture, these lists will typically be advertised as “X easy steps to prevent school shootings.”

The uncomfortable reality is that we CAN NEVER prevent school/workplace shootings, and I would venture to assert that this has already been conclusively proven. Anytime there is a workplace shooting involving multiple victims, you will have a 95%+ chance that it occurred at a workplace 1.) banning all guns, even in parking lots, and 2.) with some reasonable form of onsite security. Further, with all of the school shootings in the past decade, schools across the country have taken extraordinary “soft security” measures – metal detectors, cameras, resource officers etc. Yet shootings continue to occur.