[DanBC]

People vote in politicians. We hope that politicians do the hard work of research and getting advice before making policy.

It'd be really nice if politicians could make use of science and good quality research to make their arguments and to craft policy.

It'd be really nice if politicians could say "We don't know what the answer is. We're running some 3 year trials, and at the end of those we'll have some data and information and we'll be in a better position to know what the best thing to do is".

But no politician is going to say that. No politician is ever going to say "I'm not sure, I'll have to look at the research and get advice".

Any politician who said anything other than "Mass shootings are devastating and something needs to be done" would be eviscerated by tv, newspapers, and blogs. There is no possibility of nuanced discussion.

> most people very rationally prefer not to go swimming with sharks.

But when people decide not to swim in a well run swimming pool because the media is constantly blaring entertainment shows about sharks with ominous music and shaky-cam then it's not so rational.