Reply #1: i think it breaks down more as an urban/rural situation

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the states with the largest urban centers are "Blue" the rural states more "Red"

I remember a chat I had with my BIL about guns. He thought the Dems wanted all the guns and he truly needed them for coyotes and other vermin on the farm

I explained to him in urban Phoenix how many people get shot who just are in the wrong place at the wrong time by gangbangers showing off with their guns. I was in favor of urban pistol enforcement but understood how he would need a rifle or shotgun to protect his livestock from predators

his eyes were opened as I explained about the 35 year old mother of three who was shot and killed in her car driving down the street by some teenager taking a pot shot at another car for "dissing him in front of his girlfriend at the mini mart"

so it's not regional IMO rather rural v urban that divides us