Yesterday’s horrific events at the Washington Navy Yard join a long list of mass shootings that have occurred in the past few years. In the nine months since the Sandy Hook shooting, more than 24,000 people have died from gun-related incidents. There is a double standard in the reporting of gun violence. Journalists are hesitant to discuss reforms. The words “gun control” are rarely mentioned for fear of appearing insensitive by introducing an early political analysis of a tragedy, but the names and personalities of criminals are overtly published.

Media coverage of the shootings in Washington, D.C. yesterday has widely focused on the backgrounds of criminals. Indeed, the suspect’s picture is on the front page of websites for CNN, The New York Times, FOX News, NBC News and many others. This poses the question as to whether extensive media coverage of the criminals in recent shootings lends unnecessary infamy and notoriety to the criminal. Focusing on the particulars of the shooter’s background shifts dialogue from a productive one about how society can prevent further shootings to an indulgent and cheap conversation about one person. This portrays the shooter as somewhat of a romantic outlaw instead of a criminal and distracts from any substantive debate over gun control policy.

Over the course of the next week, the debate on gun control will reopen. Wayne LaPierre, CEO of the National Rifle Association, and his colleagues will inevitably reiterate their dogmatic belief that we should heighten security measures by supplying citizens with more guns — a blind commitment to the Second Amendment and a distraction from the possibility of reform. Yesterday’s events highlight the flaw in this argument. The shooting took place at a heavily fortified Naval Yard, which is in the vicinity of both the Capitol Building and the White House. If a military protected building in a security saturated city cannot stop a lone gunman, then how can a single armed security guard?

Extensive gun control legislation is far from being resolved. However, Congress can pass “common sense measures” including a reintroduction of the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban and thorough background checks, which have crossed the party lines in the past.

America has a gun problem that is indisputable. Now is as good a time as any to restart the conversation about gun control policy, rather than investigating the nature of a criminal. The overwhelming media coverage of the perpetrator serves to perpetuate the flawed NRA notion that “Guns don’t kill people. People kill people.” It’s sad to suggest that coverage of yesterday’s events won’t disprove this notion.