What is most ridiculous is that it's even up for discussion. The gun rights restrictions are completely inadequate in our country and we all know it. Nobody is saying ban guns, but we have established a general wild wild west attitude, where gun bearers are to seen as protectors of the public when the average owner can barely shoot straight. Starting with the acquisition process, very little responsibility is placed on the gun-ownership process. Any gun owner will admit this, unless you live in a stricter northeast state. An example I like to bring up are so -called "accidental" shootings, where someone in the home besides the gun owner has taken the weapon and shot a family member or has intentionally taken a weapon to inflict harm on others (Sandy Hook). I don't consider those accidents, I consider them criminal negligence by the gun owner who failed to safely store the weapon.
The fact that your chances of being fatally wounded by a firearm are low in this country does not at all justify us not having common sense regulation in place to prevent one-offs. In fact, it's usually agreed that more common sense regulation will go far in preventing a lot of gun-related crime (don['t have to look too hard to see evidence of this in other developed countries). Even if you want to argue to death that its people who kill people than you still have to deal with the fact that different weapons do different levels of damage and thus require different levels of scrutiny and regulation. There is a reason why you can't purchase rocket launchers. There are a lot of "mass" knife attacks in China. There is no question that easy access to firearms in China would translate into a limited knife attack with a few victims becoming dozens dead from a mass shooting. So yes, because there are screwed up people everywhere is why we need common sense restrictions. We always had a strong gun culture, but its turned into a circus and not treated seriously enough.
Mandatory federal background checks
Mandatory recurring full psychological evaluations
Mandatory recurring fire arm training (including safety)
Severe penalties for negligence as an owner
Limitation on initial number of weapons (with additional ones requiring stricter screening and valid reason (e.g. dealing))
Limitation on legal age to purchase (should be 21 - no different than alcohol)
The above is coming from a Marine who has zero confidence in the average citizen's shooting abilities and safety practice and knowledge. What it boils down to is guns are killing machines, they can do much more damage and much more easily than other accessible weapons, therefore they should be assigned a high standard of responsibility and regulation that is more symmetrical to the risks.
The only thing stopping any of the above from getting done is the fact that they will result in a decrease in weapons sales. The NRA and it's affiliates don't want that, therefore the politicians don't act. Republicans further use the issue as just another divider for the base and the base just goes along. I have yet to see someone argue effectively for a wild-wild west gunslinger culture. However, in this issue democrats are also to blame for inaction.