Another U.S. representative has been shot. (Note to right-wing haters: Gabby Gifford, a Democrat, was the first.)

Don’t expect this to be the last time. We have to recognize that people who buy guns are going to use them. And we have to expect that the mounting frustration of American voters is going to find expression in gun violence.

Between gerrymandering, voter suppression and the outrageous role of big money in our elections, our representatives — and I would submit GOP representatives in particular — are effectively insulated from the wishes of their constitutional constituents (not to be confused with their financial constituents).

We can, for example, expect the U.S. Senate to follow the House of Representatives to pass a healthcare bill the the American public does not want, effectively depriving tens of millions of American of health insurance, either directly through cuts in Medicaid, or indirectly through skyrocketing premiums for the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions.

And ironically, the GOP at the state and federal level continues to countenance the inundation of our society with instruments of designed to kill human beings, despite the disapproval of the citizenry.

And of course, Mitch McConnell’s ingenius, evil obstructionism stymied a president twice elected by the people.

When the people who have bought into the GOP and Trumps message realize they’ve been duped, some of the disproportional number of gun owners among them may well react violently. The politics of naked power may face the power of violence.

This is not the sign of a healthy democracy. Frankly, I blame GOP leadership and its plutocratic supporters for that.

So people are frustrated, and too, too many have guns. As a practical matter, it would be technically easier to get the GOP to start listening to the American people, than to get hundreds of millions of handguns and assault weapons out of the hands of the declining number of people who own them.

We need more democracy and fewer guns. But if we don’t get at least one of these, expect more appalling events like the one that took place last Wednesday.