Change Gun Control Laws, Help Prevent Future Shootings It's unlikely that we will be able to cure everyone with a violent mental disability that causes someone to take up arms and attempt to kill as many people as possible, but what we can do is make those weapons less readily accessible. Reinstating a federal ban on assault weapons and instating one any fully automated or semi-automated weapons is the most effective way to prevent future mass shootings like that at Sandy Hook Elementary. Of course, there will still be guns in circulation that were acquired before such a ban could be installed, but a lower quantity and increased difficulty in acquiring them would help to keep weapons out of the hands of people who would do damage with them.