“Chicago ranks 28th nationally in gun violence”

Republicans try to distract from the higher gun violence in their states

A lot of “what about Chicago?” in my mentions whenever I talk about guns. We all want Chicago to be safer but please see the list of states with the highest gun mortality rates. See how far you have to go down to get to Illinois. Link – https://t.co/0onKlCheXa pic.twitter.com/6zwnqtYIQ3
— John Legend (@johnlegend) May 29, 2022

•Chicago ranks 28th nationally in gun violence & 60% of illegal guns come from out of state
•9 of top 10 most gun violent states are GOP run w/weak gun laws
•9 of top 10 least gun violent states are Dem run w/strong gun laws

Drop the racist myths about Chicago. Gun Laws Work. https://t.co/OmLYXmrNVb
— Qasim Rashid, Esq. (@QasimRashid) May 27, 2022

NRA convention and conspiracy theories

Protesters outside the NRA’s meeting on Friday had assumed that the timing of a school shooting three days earlier might somehow be problematic for the NRA.

For gun enthusiasts and the Republican politicians courting them, it was only more reason to come. https://t.co/Tm8IlQBalF
— POLITICO (@politico) May 28, 2022

Former firearms executive @ryandbusse: "When you have that sort of deep visceral connection to something, a nefarious force like the NRA can figure out how to tap into that. Insert fear and conspiracy, and then make people do irrational things about it." pic.twitter.com/fAGGyaVVsM
— 11th Hour (@11thHour) May 28, 2022

“We all know they want total gun confiscation,” raved President-reject Trump at the NRA Gunfest. It was the Amber Führer at his demagogic best — the paranoid conspiracy theory, the ominous pronoun “they” and the insistence that “we all know” what in fact no one knows but him.
— Victor Laszlo (@Impolitics) May 28, 2022

They're putting ballistic plates in their kids backpacks, teaching them how to stop blood loss from gunshot wounds and floating BS conspiracy theories that "gun control advocates planned the Uvalde attack."https://t.co/x5FUg5qMjb
— Mike Hixenbaugh (@Mike_Hixenbaugh) May 28, 2022

The U.S. leads in gun deaths and gun ownership

Time to put an end to this

Although mass shootings are not unique to the U.S., the country has the highest rate of gun deaths among rich countries—more than eight times higher than Canada and nearly 100 times higher than the U.K. https://t.co/F2VTxieBoz
— Yahoo News (@YahooNews) May 27, 2022

A study of 29 countries found that the U.S. accounted for almost 97% of *all* firearm deaths among kids 4 years old or younger.

One main factor in the staggering death toll: the nearly 400 million civilian-owned guns in the U.S.https://t.co/QadAaP9JGr
— NPR (@NPR) May 28, 2022

The U.S. "has 120 firearms per 100 people — more than twice as many per capita than war-torn Yemen, the next highest country on the list."@AlexanderSmith reports for @NBCNews

Texas school shooting latest reminder U.S. is global outlier on guns https://t.co/DcB2fQTHeM
— Joy Y. Wang (@joyywang) May 25, 2022

Every single policy decision has trade-offs. What Republicans have decided, even if they won't say it out loud, is that dead kids are an unfortunate but acceptable trade-off to unregulated gun access. My latest: https://t.co/CrY7kAcxSX
— Tyler Dinucci!! (@TylerDinucci) May 27, 2022

People I respect are saying that most or many Americans want such easy, unregulated access to high-powered weapons that they are willing to tolerate repeated killings in schools. I wonder. Are we really that different from other countries? https://t.co/CXCRyVrDLr
— Reed Hundt (@rehundt) May 27, 2022

At the time of Sandy Hook the rate was “only” ~88 guns per 100 residents in the US; now it’s 121 per 100 residents. https://t.co/4XDz88ZOJE
— Tony Fratto (@TonyFratto) May 29, 2022

A Land Without Guns: How Japan Virtually Eliminated Shooting Deaths https://t.co/3zGoXdpWzG
— Max Fisher (@Max_Fisher) May 25, 2022

The only variable that can explain the high rate of mass shootings in America is its astronomical number of guns. https://t.co/yppvN7CAHW
— Max Fisher (@Max_Fisher) March 17, 2021

It's the guns. pic.twitter.com/AzTZEe88TB
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) May 26, 2022

I love how Americans are like “gun reform won’t work” and everybody around the globe are just commenting how gun reform helped their countries.

This is an interesting stat I’ve seen posted today. pic.twitter.com/DbABxV6lEL
— $MICK (@ilovesmick) May 25, 2022

It's the guns. pic.twitter.com/csWiIPNlbE
— Don Winslow (@donwinslow) June 12, 2022

Ban the AR-15

You don’t need assault weapons for hunting or defending your home.

Buffalo: AR-15
Boulder: AR-15
Orlando: AR-15
Parkland: AR-15
Las Vegas: AR-15
Aurora, CO: AR-15
Sandy Hook: AR-15
Waffle House: AR-15
San Bernardino: AR-15
Midland/Odessa: AR-15
Poway synagogue: AR-15
Sutherland Springs: AR-15
Tree of Life Synagogue: AR-15

From @adamcbest
— Don Winslow (@donwinslow) May 16, 2022

Our Sunday Review cover this week: pic.twitter.com/T0skM9XicL
— New York Times Opinion (@nytopinion) May 29, 2022

"Authoritarian forces in this country view the AR-15 as a central organizing symbol."

I had a harrowing interview with former gun company exec @ryandbusse about the gun industry's radicalization and the cultural shifts creating our heavily armed society:https://t.co/P9DcPA9WlR
— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) May 31, 2022

This piece was written four years ago.

Including the Army field reports of the ghastly, massive wounds created on the battlefield by the AR-15 is brilliant journalism.https://t.co/Fc9GHlMFac
— Nicolas Falacci (@NickFalacci) May 28, 2022

Unfortunately — there is already an enormous volume of AR-15 style rifles in the US. Possibly 10 million. (And they’re selling even more right now b/c of the talk centering on gun control and bans.)

Which means — similar to Australia — we’ll need a national buy back program. https://t.co/MKuvM2mW8v
— Nicolas Falacci (@NickFalacci) May 28, 2022

“Before the assault weapons ban went into effect in 1994, there were about 400,000 AR-15 style rifles in America. Today, there are 20 million.” Jaw dropping figure from @ZushaElinson, who is writing a book on the country’s best selling rifle.
— Bianna Golodryga (@biannagolodryga) May 26, 2022

Should have added that 2004 was when assault weapon ban ended. This isn't rocket science. https://t.co/XxIfKZ4twG
— Edward Luce (@EdwardGLuce) May 26, 2022

why is action unlikely?

in 1993, 10 of 43 Senate Rs backed a ban on assault weapons

it became law. a decade later, Congress let it expire

in 2013, after Newtown, Joe Manchin negotiated a modest background check bill w/Pat Toomey

just 4 of 45 Senate Rs voted yes

it died
— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) May 25, 2022

It shouldn't matter what age you are. No one needs an AR-15 or any other assault weapon designed to massacre people. When we had an assault weapons ban from 1994-2004, mass shootings went down 43%. After it expired, mass shootings tripled. End the filibuster. Ban assault weapons.
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) May 27, 2022

the assault weapons ban worked pic.twitter.com/8uqnzkcUx3
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 5, 2022

Don’t forget about the Buffalo mass shooting

The Uvalde mass shooting is terrible but let’s not forget the Buffalo mass shooting that also was recent.

It's been 2 weeks since the #BuffaloMassacre where 10 Black men & women were murdered by a self-proclaimed racist.

“I am so afraid that this story’s going to die,” Della Miller said. “Don’t forget about us. Please don’t.”https://t.co/N35KMtvogJ
— Christina Carrega (@ChrisCarrega) May 28, 2022

Ten Black residents of Buffalo were killed in a racist attack. But 10 days later, another mass shooting erupted in Uvalde.

Many moved on. It’s hard not to.

But Buffalo families continue to grieve. We spent time with one. To learn just how much was taken.https://t.co/uSCjzIAqr4
— Troy Closson (@troy_closson) May 28, 2022

As we learn the shocking truth about Ulvade, do lift up the name of Aaron Salter, Jr., a true hero whose willingness to fight in the face of possible death no doubt saved lives. Do not forget. https://t.co/QVTs9Jr7A0
— Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks) May 28, 2022

This visual tribute is dedicated to the victims of the mass shooting and murders in Buffalo. Honor them. pic.twitter.com/hPpJl54NEc
— Jen White-Johnson 🗣✊🏽 (@jtknoxroxs) May 17, 2022

Residents on the eastside of Buffalo say they view the Tops Friendly Market massacre as an inflection point to exposing and fixing the many deficits in the city’s Black community. – @NBCBLK https://t.co/QuIspGE3on
— NBC News (@NBCNews) May 28, 2022

Vice Pres. Kamala Harris at the funeral of Buffalo shooting victim: "This is a moment that requires all good people…to stand up and say we will not stand for this. Enough is enough. We will come together based on what we all know we have in common." https://t.co/q0nauBhuB3 pic.twitter.com/7Jdv12w6v0
— ABC News (@ABC) May 28, 2022

“There’s a galaxy of difference between a musket and an AR-15”

“There’s a galaxy of difference between a musket and an AR-15. It’s time to remove these instruments of mass murder from the marketplace once and for all.”https://t.co/PjQrc8ahtA
— Laurence Tribe 🇺🇦 ⚖️ (@tribelaw) May 28, 2022

make sure to see this brief gun control commercial which shows what old weapons were like

New POLITICO/Morning Consult poll on guns – updated with more polls

There is no good reason for members of the public to have assault weapons yet Republicans will prevent them from being banned.

Poll finds 2/3 of Americans support banning assault weapons including a 56% majority of households with a gun in it. Pew found very similar results last year. https://t.co/eqNjLJgqG7
— Ronald Brownstein (@RonBrownstein) May 26, 2022

@politico poll didn’t break out gun owners by party but Pew found majorities of even Republican gun owners backed ban on assault weapons & high capacity magazines & supported universal background checks. GOP gun owners were only group opposed-but filibuster gives them a veto https://t.co/UaDDf6wh16
— Ronald Brownstein (@RonBrownstein) May 26, 2022

The overwhelming majority of Americans support some restrictions on firearms, polls show, but Republican lawmakers fear they would pay a steep political price for embracing them, our correspondent Carl Hulse writes. https://t.co/qfC3tAgUV5
— The New York Times (@nytimes) May 26, 2022

“Significant majorities of Americans support background checks (81 percent), an assault-weapons ban (63 percent) & a ban on high-capacity ammunition magazines (64 percent).”@RonBrownstein: Majority rule is blocked by the anti-majoritarian Senate, the filibuster & the GOP. https://t.co/nxfMXHBGf3
— EJ Dionne (@EJDionne) May 26, 2022

Politico-Morning Consult poll:

Requiring background checks on all gun sales: 88% strongly or somewhat support

Creating a national database with info about each gun sale: 75% support

Banning assault-style weapons: 67% support
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) May 27, 2022

A recent CBS News poll found 54% of Americans want laws covering the sale of guns made more strict. Thirty percent said gun laws should be kept as they are, and 16% want them to be less strict. https://t.co/YSddt0cBFS
— CBS News (@CBSNews) May 25, 2022

An overwhelming majority of Americans, 88%, questioned in a poll conducted one day after the mass shooting at an elementary school in Texas supports background checks on all gun sales. https://t.co/7EZi9aJWtO
— Gary Dunavant (@Garybham) May 27, 2022

The number of Americans who think the U.S. should “make gun laws more strict” (47%) is three times higher than the number who think the U.S. should “make gun laws less strict” (14%), according to a new Yahoo News/YouGov poll. https://t.co/kFNfEEdom7
— Yahoo News (@YahooNews) May 25, 2022

Republicans are making gun laws less strict

People who want stricter gun laws dramatically outnumber people who want laxer rules, which generates the anti-gun sentiment we see in the discourse.

But 41% of the public are happy with the status quo. pic.twitter.com/2PlvgoPOo5
— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) May 29, 2022

What the numbers show on Americans' opinions of gun control measures: https://t.co/VrKKE2Lg12 pic.twitter.com/1LOSYJw4nT
— ABC News (@ABC) May 27, 2022

Almost nothing polls this well. pic.twitter.com/kFlrpuFXn4
— Molly Jong-Fast (@MollyJongFast) May 29, 2022

Pew Research thread on polls on guns

Amid several horrific recent mass shootings, many are looking for information on public attitudes about guns and gun policy. Here is a short thread of our past research on this topic:
— Pew Research Center (@pewresearch) May 26, 2022

In 2021 Pew polling, over 3/5 of adults, including majorities of Republicans who don’t own guns, support bans on both assault weapons & high capacity magazines. Only group w/majority opposition is GOP gun owners. More here https://t.co/57zOZnepgk https://t.co/rWmUgijD6E
— Ronald Brownstein (@RonBrownstein) May 25, 2022

The Onion on mass shootings

The Onion has run the same article for almost a decade now. pic.twitter.com/5JtLgItWKh
— Jasper 'Lope – Enough is Enough (@Jasperlope) May 24, 2022

'No Way To Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens https://t.co/8NNNNzc1xQ pic.twitter.com/DGFY2fTDCs
— The Onion (@TheOnion) May 25, 2022

Excellent Washington Post article on guns

The murder of 19 kids in Texas has been difficult to process — particularly that it is so unremarkable an occurrence.

So I did what might be expected: pulled data to contextualize the scale of loss and the exceptional nature of American gun violence. https://t.co/RqlUUjSFrT
— Philip Bump (@pbump) May 25, 2022