Let's talk about something else

Two Muslims kill 14 at a Christmas-season party.
Let's talk no-fly lists, even though they both flew from Saudi Arabia recently.
Let's talk gun control.
The post-San Bernardino debate is different from previous fights over gun, crime, and self-defense. According to the Supreme Court, the Second Amendment does protect a right to self-defense, but this is tangential to its historical role in American political thought: not as a pragmatic tool for hunting and warding off criminals, but as a political tool to safeguard self-government in America. The attack at San Bernardino cuts to the core of what the Second Amendment—in the minds of many Americans—is all about. Liberals who believe that jihadist attacks in the homeland will persuade Americans to disarm are very likely deluding themselves.
What's the problem, and what's the distraction?