I often wonder, watching how public discourse goes, if people understand just how big the US actually is both geographically and in terms of population. I also wonder if people are fully aware that just because they're seeing a lot of something on TV, it doesn't mean there's an "epidemic" or "serious threat" necessarily.
I know we're all used to seeing misleading, cherry picked, and outright BS on this issue but here's a report from the DOJ, probably the closest thing to an unbiased and reputable source I know of. I know it's long but at least read the highlights page if you care about this issue.
http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/fv9311.pdf
Here are two me the most significant two highlights from all that...
So, gun violence is down. That doesn't sell newspapers(or should that be get clicks now?) though so... you never hear this.
But hey, we always want to do better, especially talking about people's lives right?
Soooo..... why are we always talking about AR-15s? Why not go after handguns?
Here's a thought for some common sense legislation that I just know everyone will hate because it isn't a ban and is regulation but I'll throw it out here anyway. How about to purchase/carry/possess a handgun we require you to get a federal concealed carry permit, requiring the type of training and extra background checks typical for a concealed carry permit. This permit is a single 50-state concealed carry. If you have a valid one, you can carry throughout the entire US and not worry about being arrested on some technicality. On the flipside, someone not holding this card and carrying can go direct to jail.