text: I think it's pretty well understood in the firearms industry that a great many buyers rely on the very reasonable heuristic that, if it's what police use, it's probably not too bad a choice.  And that they should have that option if police are servants of the people (rather than servants of the people's rulers).
  
  Most criminals use whatever is around.
  
  I see two drivers for mass shootings.  One -- the more people talk about them, the more defective people think, "I could do that!"  Gun control talk inspires both buyers and mass shooters.
  
  Another is the decline in religious belief.  When I was a child seemed that a great number of people truly believed that doing a mass shooting would earn them everlasting torment in Hell.  For Catholics, there was no opportunity for confession, either.  People have since grown more "sophisticated."  (This is aside from those whose religious leaders teach them that God will _reward_ them for doing a mass shooting.)