Comment on Mass shootings seldom shift partisan policies despite outcry

Mass shootings seldom shift partisan policies despite outcry

Public outrage is swift following mass shootings, such as the killing of six people at a Christian elementary school in Nashville. Sorrow and sympathy are widespread. But what comes next from policymakers is likely to depend on which political party is in charge of a state. Don’t expect new gun controls in Republican-led states, such as Tennessee or Texas. But when similar tragedies occur in Democratic-led states, more gun limits are likely — even if they already have restrictive laws. Mass shootings generally don’t seem to change a state’s basic political makeup. “Democratic-led states tend to focus more on firearm restrictions whereas Republican-led states do not and often emphasize lessening regulations on guns,” said Jaclyn Schildkraut, executive director of the Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium at the Rockefeller Institute of Government. The fact that responses seem predicated by Republican and Democratic labels is perhaps an indication of the nation’s political polarization — and of differing viewpoints that pin the problem primarily on violent individuals or their easy access to weapons. TENNESSEE SHOOTING RESPONSE Following Monday’s shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville, tensions ran high among state lawmakers meeting across town in the state Capitol.

 

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