Not (re)building in areas prone to wildfires, mudslides, floods, and the like would be a good start. Otherwise, someone has to pay to rebuild when the ever more frequent disaster hits. State farm and other insurers suck in many ways, but this isn’t unreasonable on their part.
This assumes that the mass shootings are a problem that they’d want to solve, but it’s not since mass shootings are useful to them. They’re flashy, get lots of media coverage, and feed a sense of chaos and societal breakdown. With that, they make the case the current system can’t keep you safe, and we need an authoritarian to bring order, which they’re happy to provide.
The republican base isn’t conservative in the modern sense, they’re reactionary. In a similar vein, evangelical republicans don’t support the people who embody the values that they profess to hold sacred, they fully, and loudly, back people who are quite the opposite.
I imagine that both groups feel that they’re increasingly losing out in modern society and are seeking someone who’ll crush their perceived enemies and return them to their rightful place ruling the rest of us. So, the allure of a strongman to return them to their imagined golden age.
Smart cars had to pass US crash test standards and have the appropriate safety equipment. The kei trucks that you can currently import and use are 25+ years old and wouldn’t have even passed US standards back then. Your legs are the crumple zone in these things.
I assume that new ones would have a chance, but it’d be expensive for a manufacturer to modify and certify for the US market. Small cars haven’t sold well here, and the profit margins are slim.
Maybe with the recent size and price increases in autos here, well see some movement. I’d love a modern Honda kei to go with my element.