Democratic gun policies don't target the guns used most-often in mass shootings or homicides.

They often target cosmetic features, or write laws that actively interfere with development of safety features.

A prime example of the latter was a 2002 New Jersey law that would have outlawed the sale of any firearm without smart safety features once ANY gun with smart features became available.

That basically made all manufacturers immediately stop all progress on developing the technology, because releasing it would essentially crater their entire catalog of products. Therefore there's been zero commercially-viable smart guns released to the market for over 20 years.

More recently, the ATF re-interpreted a decision regarding the definition of a stock 10 years after a new category of arm braces hit the market. The stabilizing braces were specifically submitted to the ATF for review before ever being made available to the public, and cleared by the Obama-era ATF.

Now they've changed their position arbitrarily, and now an estimated 20 million gun owners who purchased a firearm legally are committing a felony by owning it, and the vast majority of them don't even know about it.

There's constant talk on the political left about the "gun show loophole."

There's no such thing. There's zero firearm sales rules that don't apply at a gun show. Hell - on the background check form (ATF 4473) there's even a box to check for when the background check is being performed at a gun show instead of the dealer's normal location.

But any licensed firearms dealer still has to go through the normal process at the gun show. Private sellers don't, but private sellers never have to go through the process (biggest issue that needs to be addressed in my opinion), so the gun show has nothing to do with it.

You also hear about gun laws on one state not mattering because of the less-strict laws in a neighboring state.

Contrary to popular belief, all long-gun sales have to follow the laws and procedures of birth the state where the purchase takes place AND the state where the purchaser lives. When I was a gun salesman in Texas and a California resident tried to buy a gun from me, I had to follow all of California'a processes as well as Texas's, and I could only sell a long gun that was legal in California.

Why do I use "long guns" as a qualifier? Because the transfer of any handgun to an out of state resident is a federal crime. That applies to dealers as well as private individuals whether the handgun is sold or gifted. My sister lives out of state and if I die none of my pistols can be left to her without committing a felony.

My point is this: most people on the political left don't know shit about guns, existing gun laws, or what would truly be effective. And when they TRY to write dumbass laws their ignorance poisons the well and makes gun owners who might otherwise support good ideas like improved background checks, cracking down on straw purchasers, making NICS available to private citizens, and more get super defensive.

It's like when a 90yo who has never owned a computer tries to regulate the Internet without knowing the first thing about technology. They fuck it up and just make matters worse.

Yes, Republicans are monsters who don't give 2 shits about murder victims. Despite the fact that firearms are a huge hobby of mine I vote Dem every election.

But the Democrats trying to write gun laws are usually no different than the Republicans who say that snow storms are proof that global warming is a hoax.

Honest debate needs honesty from both sides, and the first part of intellectual honesty is being able to admit when you don't understand something.