"Does it seem odd to you all the high-profile shootings lately just as they are trying to reintroduce gun bills in the Senate?"
There probably is no connection THIS time, but the question is not all that outlandish, to those have been hanging around firearms and 2nd Amendment type discussion forums for quite some time. Anyone familiar with the history of similar types of shootings, has a good reason to be suspicious. The well respected Neal Knox once even mentioned this phenomena in one of his columns. These shootings almost ALWAYS happen when there is pending gun legislation in Congress. Go back and compare the dates of the passage of the so called assault weapons ban and all the shootings with people using such weapons. That's just one example among many.
What kind of connection would you be talking about? I mean, straight out, what do you theorize could be going on, in reality?