More and more communities around the country are bound in a bloody kinship of inexplicable tragedy and horror. Random acts of violence erupt with a frequency that so far defies explanation.

The gunman who opened fire in a suburban Denver movie theater has claimed 12 lives and injured at least 50 others. Such senseless acts, whether in Seattle or Aurora, Colo., are grounded in a numbing selfishness that apparently empowers the perpetrators to settle their grievances and express their fury against innocent people in the most brutal fashion.

Ordinary people are under assault and the common access to weapons of civil destruction will have to come under scrutiny. Arming more idiots in the name of defending society would only speed the slide into the abyss.

One hopeful response is the patient, professional work of the Seattle Police Department in finding a suspect in the shooting death of Justin Ferrari on May 24. The department's Gang Unit was singled out for its contribution to the arrest of a 20-year-old suspect.

Colorado residents await an explanation that sadly will never offer any comfort or insight.