When a mass shooting occurs in the United States, a predictable exchange of views follows between politicians, says SVT's US correspondent Carina Bergfeldt. First, politicians express their condolences - often expressed as "thoughts and prayers" - and then comes the debate on gun laws.

Democrats want to see tougher gun laws, while Republicans insist that one should not police the incident and that it is people, not the weapons themselves, that take other people's lives.

New gun laws today

In some cases, like in Florida, mass shootings have led to some tightening of rules, but it differs between states.

- In Texas, you go completely the other way, says Bergfeldt.

- One of the massacres that has happened in Texas over the past four years was a shooting death at a church in Sutherland Springs. But now it has been decided that it should be easier to carry weapons inside a church or other faith community.

The new gun rules, which come into force today, September 1, also mean that firearms may be stored in a parked car at a school, that landlords must not prevent people from owning guns and that certain foster homes should be able to have weapons.

Usually police are shot

Bergfeldt also describes the recurring occurrence of police being shot by people in cars, and that police officers who patrol are often themselves rather than in pairs.

"Unfortunately, it is common for police to be shot," she says.