Are we tilting at windmills re: national gun laws?

[benEzra]

63. To use nuance, you have to *understand* the issue, which many in the DC/NY bubble apparently do not.

Some back-of-the-envelope facts to inform said nuance:

-- The vast majority of gun owners are nonhunters (>80%).

-- The primary reason for gun ownership is defensive purposes; target shooting is in second place, with hunting a distant third.

-- Approximately twice as many Americans own "assault weapons" as hunt.

-- Approximately 3.5 to 4 times as many Americans own "high capacity magazines" as hunt.

-- The label "assault weapons" denotes the most popular centerfire rifles in U.S. homes, and the most popular target rifles in both sanctioned centerfire target competition and recreational target shooting.

-- Many states have *zero* rifle homicides in any given year, and the vast majority of states are in the single digits.

Murder, by State, Types of Weapons, 2015

[font face="courier new"]Total murders...................... 13,455
Handguns............................ 6,447 (47.9%)
Firearms (type unknown)............. 2,648 (19.7%)
Clubs, rope, fire, etc.............. 1,671 (12.4%)
Knives and other cutting weapons.... 1,544 (11.5%)
Hands, fists, feet.................... 624 (4.6%)
Shotguns.............................. 269 (2.0%)
Rifles................................ 252 (1.9%) [/font]

-- The overwhelming majority of gun homicide is committed by a very small cohort with violent criminal records, most of whom are already legally prohibited from ownership.

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Given the above, can you see how demanding a ban on the most popular rifles in U.S. homes, or threatening owners of common magazines with jail time for peaceably possessing same, is *not* in fact a "nuanced" position? Or how the DNC leadership's obsession with legislating rifle stock shape comes across as both ludicrous and authoritarian?