With the president forced to address yet another U.S. mass shooting last week (the 15th such speech of his presidency), guns are the foremost political issue on a lot of people's minds right now – even Saturday Night Live had to weigh in last night.
Even so, here's a fact that remains shocking to see, although it kind of makes perfect sense: a full 40 percent of Americans personally know someone killed by gun violence. That amounts to more than 127 million people in this country.
The statistic comes from a new Huffington Post/YouGov poll on the topic.
Overall, 22 percent of Americans responded yes to a question asking if they personally knew someone killed by another person with a gun, while 29 percent responded yes when asked if they knew someone who took their own life with a gun.
Meanwhile there's still a large number of people who don't believe guns are a "very serious" problem in the USA. The poll shows that while 55 percent of respondents did believe guns are a "very serious" problem, 26 percent believe it's only "somewhat serious," while another 16 percent ranged from answering "not very serious" to "not at all serious."
There are roughly 300 million guns in the United States – that's enough for every man, woman and child. Or here's another way of putting it...
Of course, gun control, despite evidence showing it is effective in curbing gun deaths, is pretty much off the table with a congress gripped by the powerful NRA, unless President Barack Obama decides to bypass legislators and just straight up issue an executive order. Apparently, he's thinking about it.
