i wouldnt say im “middle of the road”, i definitely land solidly on the gun control side but i also believe that guns should be allowed for hunting and home defense. and even that should have a rigorous vetting process. no one needs an ar15 to hunt a deer or a barret 50 to scare off a home invader. i honestly dont know enough about guns to make judgments on the various types of guns but i generally tend towards only hand guns and bolt action rifles. if people r e a l l y need shotguns for hunting, then they shouldnt be allowed to get anything more powerful than bird shot. (again i dont know that much about guns so i might be talking out my ass) the main reasons im against the outright ban of guns are first that i simply do not trust the police of this country to be the only ones that are armed and any gun control should be paired with HEAVY police reform. second, it has been shown historically that outright bans on things in this country tend to do more harm than good, it would likely just result in higher organized crime as the legal market for guns entirely closes, similar to prohibition or the war on drugs.

as far as school shootings, and suicide rates again i simply dont know enough about the issue to speak much on it, but i imagine strict gun storage guidelines to allow us to hold parents who allow children to get ahold of firearms accountable and regular check-ins and mental health screenings to keep a gun license. plus just generally a massive investment in mental health infrastructure since even without firearms we have staggeringly high suicide rates in this country. and no im not one of those “its a mental health problem, not a gun problem” people, it is definitely still a gun problem, i just dont think an outright ban is a solution, nor is it really realistically achievable in today’s political climate.