After someone with mental health issues shoots up a business, the recurring theme from gun ban activists is to say it's a 'red' state problem. Meaning Republicans. And thus the NRA and everything democracy's oppose.

All fine, that's just politics, Republicans turn it around and note that if Democrats would stop shooting people, mass shootings would drop by 90 percent. The NRA notes their members haven't been involved in any of the mass of shooting ever. 

What about the data? Guns, like abortion, are a hot button issue because both sides contend they have a natural right to allow no common-sense regulation. Gun activists say we should be more like Europe on that while abortion proponents are horrified to find out France has long had far more restrictions on abortion than the US.


Both sides use framing. The left uses "Democrats: while the right uses only NRA members - which is a paltry 5% of gun owners, so plenty of Republicans may have a psychiatric disorder but 95% of the time they won't be in the NRA. It is interesting that media only tout the political musings of sociopaths when they don't use pronouns or don't state how much they hate Trump.

The data actually show gun violence plummeted after the bizarrely-named Assault Weapons Ban (on fancy .22 bullet guns, which no in a SWAT or military unit has ever used in an assault, and ethical states don't allow for hunting, because they are too puny) expired. Every time a new Democrat gets elected in Washington, DC it is a gigantic subsidy for the gun industry but there is no corresponding boost in violent crime per gun. It has instead cratered.

Obviously gun violence will still be linked to guns, you can't have an ATM without Machine either, but the real link that is meaningful is between guns and prescription psychiatric medication.