"made a number of bombs and grenades out of some fairly ordinary product, as I recall. Perhaps we should get rid of these, as well. And those friggin' airplanes that they flew into those buildings, they need to go. McVeigh used fertilize"

Yer not that thick, Mick, I know! LOL    The difference is all your examples are things that were made to be harmless, that some jerkass MADE into weapons... and such a jerkass can make ANYTHING into a weapon... GUNS, however were invented for ONE purpose... The killing and injuring of other human beings at a distance...   That they get used now by some for hunting and at targets is just euphemistic of their intended purpose...

"they have been a part of this country's culture since its inception"
So was slavery... and the attitude that women were 2nd class citizens... and that GOD said Black and White were forbidden to marry...   Wanna go back to believing the world is flat too Mick? (Hell dude... a lot of people already do!)

"Money and time would be much better spent trying to find out what would drive a young man to kill his grandparents and classmates and then attacking the problem."
In the mean time... get rid of the stupid guns... If you had a kid that was too stupid to figure out that it'd burn itself playing with matches, and even after it HAD done so, it continued, you'd take the matches away right?

"Solve the issue of hopelessness and helplessness"
Nice ideal mate... and I'm all for it... But until we do, you just gonna let 'em keep runnin' around armed??? Seems like a bass-ackwards way to do things to me...

" A gun is like any other tool"
Bull... a gun is not a tool... a Pipe-wrench is a tool... a zippo is a tool... a gun... a sword... a cross bow... those are weapons... Their inception was to perpetuate and facilitate the destruction of HUMAN life... And people who feel the need to carry weapons in day-to-day life are sad in my book...

But no... you folks'd rather blame society... it's the movie makers, and the people who code the video games... and the rap music... and the 'lousy' parents... (Oh no... we've got NONE of those HERE...) It's the bullies in school... it's the drugs... It's all the sex on TV... It's the hole in the ozone layer... It's the reverse racism... and the gay marriage... Not to mention the fast food!

*singing, in my best Bob Geldof*
"Are there any queers in the theater tonight?
Get them up against the wall!
There's one in the spotlight, he don't look right to me,
Get him up against the wall!
That one looks Jewish!
And that one's a coon!
Who let all of this riff-raff into the room?
There's one smoking a joint,
And another with spots!
If I had my way,
I'd have all of you shot!"

Don't get me wrong... NO society, no one country has a monopoly on nutters...   We all have 'em, and they're always gonna cause problems... but with guns in the equation, they problems they can and do cause are MUCH easier (Don't anyone try to tell me it's hard for ANYONE to get a gun, especially in North America) to pull off... and they're capable of a much higher body count (unless they're really NUTS and do stuff like plant bombs and such... )

So ya... by all means... do everything you can to FIX 'society'... but I for one don't see how it can be done without getting rid of the stupid-ass guns...