I'm not as on board with this as I once was because we can't look at these policies divorced from reality. And the reality is there is a rise in killings associated with a specific type of gun. And nobody's safe from this. This isn't about gun violence happening in the hood. This isn't even about American citizens being able to arm themselves. This is about the fact that everyone's kids, even lily white ones, are having to go to schools and do drills to better their chances of survival against a white supremacist wielding a specific type of gun. That when people going to public events and public spaces express fear of a mass violent act, it's with a specific type of weapon.
So while I understand not lending ourselves to Republican talking points, I do think we need to stop doing that to the point that we care more about not getting their voters than losing ours. Americans are afraid of the AR-15. Suburban white voters are afraid of the AR-15. Any voter who would think Democrats saying "We're going to ban those types of guns" means "We are going to take away all guns" especially out of the mouth of a Democrat from Texas was always going to fall the Republican talking point that Democrats are going to "take yer gunz." And they're just not worth it. They're not worth losing the energy of our base over.
We've had an assault weapons ban before.
