There should be no problem about restricting access to assault weapons, since these are only useful for homicide or as a substitute penis. But Republicans know that the insecure and unsure must have their AKs, the more the better, so we can’t get rid of assault weapons. But though assault weapons and other rifles get a lot of attention because of their use in mass shootings, rifles and assault weapons account for only 3% of annual gun murders. Handguns, on the other hand, account for 59% of annual gun murders. 

The AK is a stylish accessory when worn with cammies or other “tactical” costumes, but the pistol is the gun worn by the smartly dressed dude in an urban setting. And cities are the venue not only for night-by-night shootings in the parking lots of barrooms and convenience stores, but also for weekly crowd shootings at Saturday-night parties. These usually large gatherings often include people who cannot control themselves, packing uncontrolled weapons, and making the most of de facto uncontrolled substances. In this ambience a bit of disrespect or get-in-your-face will give rise to on-the-spot duels in which the duelists and sometimes their seconds shoot it out with one another. But unlike the duels of old, these exercises in self-display do not take place by prior arrangement in remote places, but occur suddenly and, by preference, in the middle of a crowd.

Handguns are the weapon of choice for urban shoot-outs. They are easily concealed and easily obtained, both legally and, more often, on the flourishing underground handgun market at home or in an adjoining state. But if howls of outrage and self-righteous struts are evoked by proposals for better controlling AKs, proposal for any effective program to bring handguns under control would overwhelm public discourse in America. Even so, something’s got to be done. Firearm addicts and the people who feed and defend their addiction could be what will bring this country down.