I don't think this is as much a race or gun issue as much as it's a mental health issue. Obviously we don't know much at this point, but even a hard line racist will not usually do something this extreme, it usually takes some form of mental health issue.
There is a problem in this country with how we deal with the mentally ill. Too often parents are forced to stand by while their adult children cycle in and out through the mental health system.
In my book racism is a mental disease, and demonstrably one that can be cured in individuals given appropriate therapy. Regardless, whether because of some other mental illness or not, what this man did is a result of a racist position then and there when he was firing rounds. I don't really care where he gets put away for the rest of his life, so long as he get's put away for the rest of his life.