>> would assume he means by taking $7,740,521 from the NRA -- because all they want is as many guns as possible with as few laws and regulations or record keeping as possible, regardless of how many people in the USA get mowed down by gunfire or suicide. This latest ploy about the bump-stocks is simply just that... a ploy to avoid any further or meaningful gun laws from happening.

Until relatively recently it was a legal requirement for adult males in Switzerland to maintain an assault rifle in their home. To make sure, government issued such weapons to its citizens and residents so that most homes had a semi-automatic weapon. Ammo came for free for it as well. When the law changed, you could choose whether to hold onto the issued weapon. Most held onto it, though now it was their own responsibility to procure ammo for it.

Why does this matter? Because mass shootings- in fact any sort of shooting- is very rare in Switzerland. This precedent suggests it's not legality/availability of weapons that makes the difference- or else Switzerland would be like the Wild West.

Meanwhile Chicago, with its strict gun control laws, has a very high rate of shooting crime.

There's something else going on in the US. What is it?

As an example, despite these large numbers of military rifles, the estimated Swiss weapon count is about 25% of the US count. The Swiss per capita count also is less than that in adjacent nations like Germany.

Part of the issue is that "guns" are all lumped together so (for example) you can't tell whether it's semi-automatic weapons, double-barrel shotguns or hand guns affecting your statistics. Even in places with relatively liberal gun control laws like NZ, pistols are not allowed without quite stringent safety and organizational participation rules which reduces pistol crime to almost none. If it turns out the US problem revolves around (say) semi-automatic rifles and pistols, a generic anti-gun message just offends educated weapon owners. IOW there's a lot more to this than a few slogans and demonizing the NRA.