Congress and the President could make 2018′s crime rate the lowest in 100 years by repealing the Controlled Substance Act. They know that it would reduce violence. They would rather have the violence than legal drugs. They believe police should risk and sacrifice their lives to keep you from putting the wrong chemicals into your body. They′ll let you eat all the Tide Pods you want but one puff on a marijuana joint and you′ll end up in the clink.
Democrats know that ending the Drug War would save more lives than any new gun law. They will propose new gun control measures that they know will not be passed and will not work even if formally enacted.
The point of politics is not to solve problems. The point is to get elected or at least raise one′s profile. If you actually solve a problem, what reason do voters and donors have to support you in the next election? Instead of actually fixing a problem, the trick is to act like the other side is the only obstacle in your way. Politics is fueled by drama, so both Republicans and Democrats have a mutual interest in keeping the crime rate high. The NRA and the Brady Campaign need high profile shootings to happen on a regular basis or else Americans will stop caring and stop sending them money. Both rival groups need crime to happen just like the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears need football to happen.
Any Republican who supports gun rights but not drug rights does not really care about freedom. And any Democrat who talks more about the occasional school shooting instead of the constant war that has raged through our streets for decades does not actually care about saving lives.