In 1977, a more politically conscious and extreme element of the NRA, captured control of the organization and it began to meld into the conservative party itself.

Quickly thereafter politicians became directly involved in the lobby. https://twitter.com/LeslynLewis/status/1307822088980439040

Mass Shootings in America went from 2 in the 1930s, 3 in the 1940s, 1 in the 1950s, 6 in the 1960s (4 after 1968) and jumped to an astounding 15 in the 1970s. 21 in the 1980s, 31 in the 1990s. Moving from decades to singles, in 2018 there were 323 and in 2019 there were 434.

There is a provable and *direct* correlation between the rise in gun violence and "gun culture" in America to the adoption of this hot button topic by politicians directly as a means to capture that particular vote.

I spent about a week's worth of my downtime researching the "gun debate". Gun laws, gun crime, the America/Canada comparison (the timeline was both soothing and frightening). I'm not sure when/if I'll have the time to finish it, but I did come to this conclusion:

It seems a fair assessment that Canada’s introduction or alteration of gun laws has always followed the state of American “gun culture” and has always been both proactive and reactive.

One can *see* the moment it became a political football in America.

In 1977, the same year the NRA underwent a shift to become an "inside" lobby, Bill C-51 prohibited fully automatic weapons in Canada. In 1991 and 1995, as American gun violence escalated, further restrictions were placed upon gun ownership and use in Canada.

In short, Canada has traditionally reacted to the overt politicization of the gun culture in America by increasing its gun controls.

The point: watching our conservative politicians absorb and adopt the Canadian gun lobby's fight should make us all very concerned.

Sorry for all the bad grammar and weird sentences. I'm stealing/retrofitting bits from something already written.

Here it is, less mangled.

Frankly, that little draft article is insufficient to address the complex issue of guns, gun rights and the rights of a citizenry to be safe from violent threat.

It's a book length issue.

I do hope someone writes one.