Heh, I don't want to get sucked into playing devil's advocacy because I found a shiny new mental tools. But whether or not you agree that guns are insufficient, it might be a way of labeling clearly how gun advocates think about it, and what you might have to do to change their minds. Vs. debating "guns cause shootings" when there are two definitions of 'cause' at play.

There's probably more than one gun culture in the US. "Handguns for self-defense" vs. "long guns for hunting" vs. "guns for recreational target shooting" vs. "cool assault weapons to fight against THEM".