You're right, I don't want to suggest that. I put all blame for this situation for whoever gave him the gun and whoever brought him to the situation.

To continue my lame chemistry and physics metaphors for this whole thing, you don't blame sodium or water for exploding, you blame whoever brought them together.

My expectation of this individual, or any of similar circumstances, is more like a certainty that something like that would happen. Preventing this situation is the best we can do, the best we should have done, and what we should try moving forward. I think a significant demographic in this country doesn't see it that way, though. They want firearms to be more accessible and with fewer (or none at all) expectations and standards because it's a right in principle. In practice that's going to get a lot of people killed.

As a society we are making ongoing collective decisions on whether or not that's ok. There is a possible state that people want and the current state that is. You say we shouldn't lower our standards, but I think unfortunately between gerrymandering and lack of accountability over the last several years, lower standards are going to be the norm and potentially codified after the next election. It's a shit position to be in for us, but it's what others want, so I stopped caring about politics. Maybe it's selfish or psychotic, but eh. Let the people taste the suffering and shit they invite. First hand experience of their own policy is the only cure now.