17 Dead in Florida. GOP does nothing.

[Santander]

Using bolt-action rifles for hunting is archaic and makes it far more difficult, but sure. My point is semi-automatic rifles do serve a purpose outside of being used to gun people down. I think we need to focus on bump stocks that turn them into machine guns. That also goes for magazine adaptors on 100 round drums that turn handguns into submachine guns.

People use bolt-action rifles for hunting because they are reliable, accurate, and relatively inexpensive. One of the most respected serious big-game hunting rifles in the world is the Ruger No.1 - a falling block, single-shot rifle that offers several advantages to bolt-action and semi-automatic rifles. Nobody uses bolt-action rifles for hunting to make it more difficult (it's not a video game FFS), they use them because they are the right tool for the job.

(of course, a semi-automatic is the right tool for the job in some cases, too, just generally not if you are the predator)

[Santander]

Every freedom comes with a cost. Allowing people to drink will lead to more alcoholism and alcohol-related deaths. Allowing people to drive will lead to more fatal car accidents. Allowing people to have guns will lead to more gun deaths. This is just a fact. The question is, what is your appetite for bearing the cost of freedom?

Deep down, most people don't really care about "regular" gun murders or suicides, they only care about mass shootings, especially school shootings, because of how emotionally traumatic and public those events are. Now, no politician would openly admit that people are generally so cold and aloof that they only care about murders in their country if they can see them, but I will say it like I see it.

Solving the "problem" of gun violence is irrelevant, because it is invisible to the vast majority of people. So I'm convinced that the best solution, cynical as it may be, is to mitigate against mass shootings through legislating access control, better-designed public buildings and spaces, more robust background checks (including enforcing laws on the books), etc. and gun control will die as an issue.