Mass shootings lead to widening divide on state gun policies

By DAVID A. LIEB
Associated Press

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — As mass shootings are again drawing public attention, states across the U.S. seem to be deepening their political divide on gun policies. A series of recent mass shootings in California come after a third straight year in which U.S. states recorded more than 600 mass shootings involving at least four deaths or injuries. Democratic-led states that already have restrictive gun laws have responded to home-state tragedies by enacting or proposing even more limits on guns. Many states with Republican-led legislatures appear unlikely to adopt any new gun policies after last year’s local mass shootings. They’re pinning the problem on violent individuals, not their weapons.