Keller @ Large: Finger-Pointing Doesn't Address Human Error

BOSTON (CBS) - In the wake of the horror in Orlando, politicians of all stripes are busy doing what they do best - finger-pointing.

On the floor of the Senate, Democrats staged a filibuster aimed at forcing a vote on a bill to give the government authority to deny people it merely suspects of being terrorists the right to buy guns or explosives. They also want to expand the scope of background checks on gun buyers.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump is calling for something many Republicans - and even some Democrats - have been wanting for some time, a moratorium on new immigration until the broken process of screening out potentially-dangerous arrivals can be repaired.

It's easy to see the political appeal of these arguments.

It's hard to swallow the gun lobby's arguments when you see the nasty, fast-firing weapons used in so many of these mass shootings. And when you learn how the murderers in Boston and San Bernardino travelled to sketchy parts of the world and came back ready to kill, you wonder about our vetting procedures.

But all the rhetoric about changing our laws doesn't address the core of the problem - human nature, and human error.

We know that law enforcement defensiveness about turf and failure to communicate was part of the failure in Boston. There's no doubt officials are overwhelmed by the task of searching out potential terrorists. And it's all too human when people may see something but don't say anything out of ignorance or fear.

So as the political debate washes over you, be alert for any honest discussion of the hard-to-solve but crucial human elements at the heart of our problems.

Just don't hold your breath waiting for it.