People don't fear going to jail/prison in this country. In a lot of countries, they do.
As to go the gun debate, there is no evidence to support owning guns will make us safer. All the evidence points to the contrary (nations with the strongest gun laws being the safest from gun related crime).
"And your point is? Stay on track."
Actually, it's a valid point. If we are filling up our jails, we will at some point be overcrowded and cannot keep them all without charging the taxpayers far more money. But you knew that, instead trying to ignore his very good point.
There are always so many different ways to break down cultural issues like this. The way we glorify shootings certainly isn't doing us any good is my take. The focus from the shootings should have been on treating the root cause which is usually mental health (caused by other factors like bullying and things we can do better to control). The gun issue should be raised, but it isn't the main one to be focused on. If you want to kill people, you can use any number of readily available objects. Don't make it easier by giving them guns, but that's all we hear about.
My solution in conversations with my friends whenever there was a school shooting was simple...hold parents accountable for anything their kid does wrong. You can't force people to parent properly, but we should take steps to do something about it.