Recent polling suggests that Americans are very worried about gun violence. A Quinnipiac University poll taken from Oct. 26 to 30, right after the Maine shooting, found that 46 percent of registered voters worried about becoming a victim of a mass shooting themselves. That matches a high set in July 2022 in the wake of the Uvalde, Texas, shooting at Robb Elementary School, and is 9 points higher than a low of 37 percent in December 2017, the year the survey began asking the question.
Americans also feel pessimistic that anything will change. Indeed, 68 percent don’t believe the federal government will do anything to reduce gun violence within the next year, per the Quinnipiac poll.
The funny thing is the vast majority of gun-related deaths involve handguns rather than AR-15-pattern rifles. And prairie dogs? That precisely the kind of creature the .223 Remington or NATO 5.56 intermediate cartridge the AR-15 traditionally fires was designed for. It could be effective against a Columbian drug cartel, but if I were facing down a population of homicidal moose, I would want a much larger caliber, such as the .30-06 most commonly used for battle rifles prior to the introduction of the less powerful NATO 5.56.
You sound like a passionate proponent of gun control. I would advise you to educate yourself on the subject of firearms so as to be more effective in your activism, rather than merely spreading misinformation and FUD.