While most elections are fought on the margins, occasionally an event occurs that shocks the psyche and changes opinion. I believe that this is one of them.

"A gunman shot dead 50 revellers at a Florida gay nightclub last night and injured 53 others after storming the venue armed with an assault rifle and a handgun, making it the worst mass shooting in American history.

The FBI was called in last night after the massacre in Orlando’s Pulse nightclub, packed with 350 people, was declared “an act of terrorism”.

The shooter has been identified as Omar Mateen, 29, of Port Saint Lucie, Florida, whose parents are from Afghanistan. Counter terrorism officials said he worked as a security guard, had a gun licence and was a US citizen. Officials are still trying to understand the motive for the attack but said there are some initial indications he was attracted to radical Islamic ideology."

Mateen also, it's alleged made a 911 call immediately before beginning his operation to declare his loyalty to ISIS and to make sure his motivations were clearly understood and on the public record.
Sadly it was only a matter of time before a Gay bar was hit, there have been several similar attacks foiled in other countries, notably the 2007 London car bomb plot.
Gun control and background checks made no difference in this case as the attacker was apparently a licensed shooter and worked as a guard at a juvenile detention centre, a job which surely would require a clean Police record and a thorough background check.
The only slip up so far, judging from the limited information available was that he was able to keep his gun permit and firearms even after twice being investigated by Police for Islamic extremist beliefs.
The only pattern here is that the U.S based Islamic radicals who've been successful and completed their attacks have for the most part been trusted, well educated, well integrated and mentally stable young people from middle class backgrounds.

Just in:
Father of America's most deadly mass shooter wants top Afghan president job and had TV show where he showed support for the Taliban
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3637968/Father-America-s-deadly-mass-shooter-wanted-Afghan-president-job-TV-showed-support-Taliban.html#ixzz4BOs1vwxm
There are also reports that ISIS propagandists had publicly declared their intentions to carry out attacks in Florida this weekend, even publishing a hit list of American citizens late last week.

'anti' racist still in denial. They will still violently protest anyone telling the truth.

SM,

The question you should be asking is how it's possible for any nutter - religious or not - to get hold an AR-17 in a supposedly civilised society?

Here's what the US far right-wing Republicans did directly after the shootings in San Bernardino.

"Senate Republicans rejected a bill that aims to stop suspected terrorists from legally buying guns, on Thursday. The vote came a day after at least 14 people were killed during the San Bernardino massacre in California by two suspects, including a woman said to have pledged allegiance to ISIS.

Forty-five senators voted for the bill and 54 voted against it. One Democrat, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, and one Republican, Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois, crossed party lines.

The measure would have denied people on the terrorist watch list the ability to buy guns."

"Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who sponsored the legislation, argued that former President George W. Bush initially proposed the legislation in 2007, and the Obama administration also supports it.

“If you need proof that Congress is a hostage to the gun lobby, look no further than today’s vote blocking a bill to prevent known or suspected terrorists from buying guns and explosives,” she said. “Congress has been paralyzed by the gun lobby for years, while more and more Americans are killed in mass shootings. The carnage won’t stop until Congress finds the courage to stand up to the gun lobby and protect the nation.”

The NRA did not respond to a request on Friday for comment. But the gun rights lobby group told MSBC last month it wants to ensure that Americans who are wrongly on the terrorist list are are afforded their constitutional right to due process."

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/gop-blocks-bill-stop-terrorists-buying-guns

Noting that "2" of the many hundreds of almost weekly mass shootings in the last few years in the US have had any suggestion of a Muslim/terror connection.

Those whacky right-wingers...they are a problem.

Poirot,

I am a strong supporter of gun control laws, and agree that ready access to guns contributed to this outrage. Similarly I am not a Trump supporter. However, that is not the point of this thread.

We are heading into a presidential election where one of the candidates has warned against muslim extremists and the other has strongly denied that they are a risk. Who is going to benefit most from this?

This is the worst massacre since 9/11 and is not the only muslim inspired attack since then.