Could smaller, local measures offer a way forward on gun control?
Maybe the American experience with gun violence doesn’t have to follow a dispiriting, predictable cycle after all.
The cycle itself runs like this: a terrible mass shooting shocks the nation. Outrage ensues. Gun control advocates vow that this time they’ll get legislation through Congress. Then, due to the political power of the gun lobby and the cohesiveness of gun owners, nothing happens. The experience divides voters and leaves many deflated and angry.
But observers note there are things the United States can do to try and reduce its scourge of gun violence that don’t depend on polarized national politics. They range from state efforts to take guns from domestic abusers to intensive intervention with urban gangs. Many are ongoing today across the land.
Other issues as modelsThe US
States take actionGang-violence alternativesPossible national changes