Although it has been dissected countless numbers of ways, the debate over the cause of the Littleton, Colo. high school shooting mercifully has shifted from Marilyn Manson and video games to a topic of actual merit — gun control.

However, instead of examining the complex issues surrounding gun control, Republicans and Democrats have been milking the debate for all it’s worth during the past week in a game of ridiculous one-upmanship.

Each side has been introducing bill after bill in a feeble attempt to look like the “good guys” in the wake of the shooting. Democrats have been using the Republican Party’s ties to the National Rifle Association against them, as if the Republicans were directly responsible for the 15 people killed at Columbine.

In an equal show of maturity, the Republicans, who still are smarting in the aftermath of the impeachment trial, have been lambasting the Democrats’ ideas on how to stop another Littleton from happening.

It’s unfortunate that this tragedy evokes such a political response from our nation’s leaders when the shooting was incredibly personal.

Columbine is—and has been for the last month— the topic of national debate, and it’s understandable why the issue of gun control would come up. Obviously, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold had a well-stocked arsenal at their disposal.

But whether the Columbine shooting would have happened if there had been stricter gun legislation is open to debate. Perhaps the death count would have been lower, but Harris and Klebold obviously were intent on creating their massacre by any means necessary.

Remember, the two young men used other forms of weaponry during their spree, including pipe bombs.

If Columbine is going to continue to be in the spot light, the focus shouldn’t just be on gun control, or the killers’ choice in literature and movies. Although all of these matters may have factored into the shooting, it isn’t fair just to pull at tangents, expecting to find an easy solution.

It is not possible to legislate an incident such as Columbine from happening again. It already has happened again, as last week’s Georgia shooting proved.

The deeper issues at the heart of Columbine is kids’ feelings of alienation and mistreatment by their peers, as well as their relationships with their parents. Those obviously can’t be legislated, but they should be discussed in more depth.

And although such a discussion won’t necessarily heal all wounds, it’s certainly more productive than Congress’ name calling.

Iowa State Daily Publication Board:

Michelle Murken, Greg Jerrett, Kate Kompas, Ben Godar, David Roepke and Kate Kompas.