2012 Decoded

A disgruntled former employee of an apparel company shot and killed a one-time co-worker and wounded nine others near the Empire State Building in New York on Friday. It was the third mass shooting in five weeks, after deadly rampages in Aurora, Colo. and Oak Creek, Wis. Overnight, 19 people were shot in Chicago, including 13 in a single half-hour span.

"There's more we can do to prevent gun violence. But I want this to at least be the beginning of a new discussion on how we can keep America safe for all our people," Obama wrote in the Arizona Daily Star, two months after another rampage that left six dead and gravelly wounded 13 others, including former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

If ever there were a moment to have that discussion, it is during a presidential campaign, when voters have the chance to choose between options.

But that discussion isn't happening. Entitlement spending is a subject of heated debate during the presidential campaign. It is no longer a faux pas to criticize a president traveling overseas. But gun control? That's still a third rail in American politics, one that neither President Obama nor Mitt Romney are willing to touch.