Appearing on CNN's State of the Union to discuss the mass shooting in Aurora, Colorado governor John Hickenlooper said that "act[s] of evil" are not necessarily preventable with stricter gun control laws.

James Holmes used a gun to kill 12 people and wound 58 others, but Hickenlooper believes the assailant could have found another way to do it.

If there were no assault weapons available and no this or no that, this guy is going find something, right? He's going to know how to create a bomb.

It was a somewhat wishy-washy response to the gun control debate that has raged in response to the Aurora shootings.

California senator Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat like Hickenlooper, was clearer on her position when she appeared on Fox News Sunday.

Weapons of war don't belong on the streets. We've got to sit down and really come to grips with what is sold to the average person in America.

Fellow guest Ron Johnson, Wisconsin's Republican senator, disagreed.

"I don't think society can keep sick, demented individuals from obtaining weapons," he said. He went on to suggest, as so many idiots before him have, that a "responsible individual" with a gun might have been able to prevent some of the deaths in the theater. Because in a chaotic situation with a crazed gunman, dozens of injuries, and a smoke bomb, the one thing you need is another deadly weapon in the mix.

While President Obama is visiting the victims' families in Colorado, neither he nor his opponent Mitt Romney have made any statement about gun control in the wake of the shootings.

In fact, many politicians have kept silent past offering condolences and prayers, because no one wants to "politicize a tragedy" — even if that means helping prevent similar tragedies in the future.

[Image via AP]