After Las Vegas, who needs to fear Isis when you have the NRA?

Like cars and French fries, guns are everywhere in the United States.

I have a confession to make. A few months ago, I visited a gun range for the first time. I was on holiday in Texas and I was bored and curious.

I also happened to be with two friends – but only one of us had ever fired a weapon before (spoiler alert: it wasn’t me). “That’s fine,” said a smiling woman at the front desk, before explaining that if one of us could demonstrate how to operate the safety catch on a handgun, we could all use the range. (Huh?)

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Mehdi Hasan

@mehdirhasan

Mehdi Hasan is a contributing writer for the New Statesman and the co-author of Ed: The Milibands and the Making of a Labour Leader. He was the New Statesman's senior editor (politics).