[Throwawayaerlei]

causing people who shouldn't be in possession of a gun to be in possession of one, resulting in unnecessary injury and death.

Figures on injuries are iffy in the US, for example the degree involved, but death is binary and since 1980 accidental deaths from firearms have gone from 800 to 500 a year, at the same time both the number of people in the US have increased by 50% and percentage armed have increased by even more. The latter probably due to the nationwide sweep of "shall issue" or better concealed carry regimes in states, now covering 42 states and ~75% of the nation's people.

One of the reasons this is a red hot issue it that it's the only failure of the Left's in its culture war on the Right, and it's a very big failure.