Sometimes people just need to realize that things happen and we don't have to pass new laws and regulations every time something bad happens.
It is easy to stand back at 100ft and say this type of crap, but the fact is, crazy people are all around us, and we should try to be proactive instead of reactive.
We as a society owe it ourselves to reflect on events such as this, and see if there was anything that could have been done to prevent it. If the answer is yes, then we SHOULD act. Does that mean freedoms need to be restricted, laws to be enacted? No, it could mean better technology, maybe better security, maybe MORE security.
I hope no new laws come of something like this, but if it means reducing the chance that this happens again, I am all for it.
Our rights are absolute, but we also need to compromise. We can't let ourselves become 1984, but we can become safer, smarter, more efficient with regards to security.
Our lawmakers know just as well as we do, that more laws won't fix events like these, but better messaging ("See something say something"), better trained police officers, etc.. these are things that are controllable, changeable, and have a hugely positive impact on preventing horrible things like this from happening.
Is it cold to point out that we are already living in an age of more security? There were paramilitary police teams at the marathon, ready to take on a small army -- but the attackers found a way to plant their bombs anyway.
When the TSA was established and billions of dollars were spent on securing our airlines, a tiny minority of people were saying that if another attack occurred it would not be on an airplane. Now we have seen another attack, it was not on an airplane nor anywhere near an airport. We do no need another massive security bureaucracy designed to prevent marathons or city streets from being attacked, because that will just push terrorists to attack something else. There are far too many ways to attack a country as large and developed as the United States to have a sprawling bureaucracy for all of them.
"I hope no new laws come of something like this, but if it means reducing the chance that this happens again, I am all for it."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_by_whiskey
"We can't let ourselves become 1984, but we can become safer, smarter, more efficient with regards to security."
Every time we become "more efficient" about domestic security, we sacrifice our rights. What makes you think this time will be different?
Use the powers we're given smarter, less broadly.