“The urge to pass new laws must be seen as an illness, not much different from the urge to bite old women. Anyone suspected of suffering from it should either be treated with the appropriate pills or, if it is too late for that, elected to parliament [or congress, as the case may be] and paid a huge salary with endless holidays, to do nothing whatever.” – Auberon Waugh

Every time something tragic happens there are calls for legislators to “do something.” What to do, whether it is wise or foolish, is less important than passing some new law. Years ago, when I was writing for Listen Magazine (now gone) I wrote an article about a couple of teens who created a fantasy politics game — it was similar to a fantasy football league. You picked a “team” of legislators, and got points as they created legislation.