Many of us know this. We also know that legislators in Washington, as well as Donald Trump himself, are so beholden to the National Rifle Association that little to nothing will be done to stem the real problem: guns and their availability.

Instead, politicians talk about tangential issues like the mentally ill, the “hardening” of soft targets like schools, and putting even more guns in people’s hands, like the lunacy of arming teachers.

A main facet of Trump’s campaign was the condemnation of violence in Chicago and what that said about the culture there.

As The Washington Post pointed out, Trump promised in his inauguration speech to end this “American carnage,” but “gun deaths are up over 12 percent year-over-year. Firearm injuries are up nearly 8 percent. The number of children under the age of 12 shot by a gun has increased by 16 percent, while instances of defensive gun use are up nearly 30 percent.”

Yes, gun violence is actually on the rise.

As Time magazine pointed out in November, “Firearm-related deaths rose for the second-straight year in 2016.” The magazine continued:

“In 2016, there were more than 38,000 gun-related deaths in the U.S. — 4,000 more than 2015, the new C.D.C. report on preliminary mortality data shows. Most gun-related deaths — about two-thirds — in America are suicides, but an Associated Press analysis of F.B.I. data shows there were about 11,000 gun-related homicides in 2016, up from 9,600 in 2015. The increase in gun-related deaths follows a nearly 15-year period of relative stasis.”

Furthermore, according to an April F.B.I. report: “The F.B.I. has designated 50 shootings in 2016 and 2017 as active shooter incidents. Twenty incidents occurred in 2016, while 30 incidents occurred in 2017.” The state with the largest number of those active shooters — six — was, you guessed it, Texas.