Recent actions taken by the political parties in the United States have effectively resulted in a confusion of firearm regulations and framing devices. For conservatives, the framing has been centered around the original intent of the 2nd Amendment, and focusing on a rights based approach to gun control. For liberals, their framing device of mass shootings has become all encompassing, resulting in a stagnant debate between the two sides. This elite discourse has resulted in the average voter separating knowledge about firearm fatalities from their opinions on gun control. In particular, it appears that a person is most influenced by their perception of how firearm homicides occur. This is of particular importance to women who in the study heavily focused on the issue of mass shooting, despite this type of homicide representing a small minority of total killings. While these findings are only preliminary, they demonstrate that the current debate needs to redirect its approach to a more moderate position where varying framing techniques from both ideologies can be used to generate support from even the most staunch pro-gun lobbyist, such as the NRA. A discussion of future research and what new framing around laws would present as is also discussed.
