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It does only exist in their minds. As such they should have to prove it is something more than their succumbing to the fallacy of misleading vividness. Violent crime and murder are at historic lows. Prattling histrionics that we are experiencing a bloodbath of epidemic proportions certainly garner attention from those unwilling to view reality, but it is not something to base laws upon....
Like you, I'd like laws and decisions to be based upon good numbers and good facts, however, we live in a country run by elected officials who cater to voters. Many of the voters are not very well informed, or easily brainwashed folks who barely take the time to pencil in their choices, even In Oregon where they mail you a ballot! Perceptions are very powerful in this system and there is a lot of brainwashing going on. Thinking that numerical arguments are going to allow us to keep our gun rights is an act of faith.
Prattling histrionics sounds like a good description of a lot of the arguments on this forum, or off the AM radio where this morning, I heard an incomplete argument, that would make an idiot blush, put forth by a yapping phony who kept repeating the phrase 'The Regime'. Since this fellow is worth a heck of money and is syndicated all over I will, under no circumstances, ever, underrate the power of 'Prattling Histrionics'. Of course, the left has it's own brand of this 'commodity. People who present honest facts as a path to decision making don't seem to have much of a market share of the media.
There are about 8,000 gun homicides in the country per year, the vast majority with handguns, yeah, not many, but look at all the attention being put on this issue!