In the wake of the most atrocious shooting spree ever seen in the US, we’ve witnessed a spree of another kind, of pompous back-patting about the apparent success of the 1996 firearm law reforms. It’s not a new conversation, but the ever-strengthening, everyman culture of the digital media sees many wading in to scold the Americans for their inability to see the light and follow our shining example.  

Despite the irony of my own ovine urge to follow the herd, a piece in The Conversation last week gave impetus to look at a few of the keynote papers referred to by...