President Obama anticipated criticism Thursday when he called for more stringent gun control measures in the wake of the Oregon shootings. “Somebody, somewhere will comment and say, Obama politicized this issue,” the president said. “Well, this is something we should politicize.”

It’s a reasonable point. Guns are an important issue in American life, as are mental health and law enforcement. After an event like the one in Oregon — and in the face of rising crime in some of the nation’s biggest cities — how else to deal with them if not through the political system? That doesn’t necessarily mean new laws should be passed or existing ones changed. But it does mean there should be a debate about it.