So it would seem the latest nut case with a gun and no conscience is, wait for it, an atheist. As if this explains his actions. He shot up a church and killed innocent church-goers out of his disdain for religion.

Or so the many have said on our newest dimension, social media. As tempting as that is, I’ll leave it alone for now.

Within hours of the attack, we have former classmates, anonymous military sources, unnamed law enforcement providing tantalizing, and unverified, details of a deranged individual of weak and cowardly character.

He’s not a Muslim, he didn’t scream Allahu Akbar.

So far, neither ISIS nor any other terrorist group adopted him, so he doesn’t fit our preferred mold of terrorist.

He didn’t get in on a visa lottery, that’s inconvenient.

We are left with the reality of a “mental health issue.”  Even Mr. Trump got this one right.

The rush to find a rational explanation for this irrational behavior, i.e., blaming his atheism or other external factors, masks the real issue; lack of health care, including mental health resources.

And here’s another inconvenient truth, initial reports say armed American citizens took action ending the entire episode. They acted before law enforcement could because that is the reality in such a small town. If that turns out to be true, the argument for gun control as a solution to these episodes fails.

But, the necessity of access to mental health resources, and better screening of individuals who present with mental health issues, and own firearms, is underscored.

On what we will do about it, I have little hope. Cutting access to a basic human need, health care, seems to be a favorite of this administration and his Congressional lap dogs.

Gun control advocates and the NRA have a common enemy, crazy people with guns. If these groups fail to achieve a compromise in addressing the problem, you can rest assured another nutcase is sitting in front of his TV, cleaning his AR-15, loading his magazines, and planning his entry into the record book of mass killings.

P.S. If you need further proof of this man’s mental instability, he decided to shoot people in Texas! EVERYBODY has a gun in Texas. No further evidence is necessary.