The recent murders of police officers illustrates again the futility and failure of the "punish the criminal" approach to gun violence. Five officers murdered in Dallas, three in Baton Rouge, 11 wounded in those incidents and a Milwaukee shooting. Punish the criminal means let the crime occur first, then deal with the perpetrator. It would be infinitely better if the killers had not been able to get their hands on assault-style rifles in the first place; eight officers would still be alive. But the NRA and its supporters oppose a ban on such weapons. They prefer to let the crime occur first.