Good policy is based on statistics, and implemented by changing perceptions through anecdotes.
Bad policy is based on ideology, and implemented by changing perceptions through anecdotes.

Good policy is made by identifying a problem to be solved, correctly root causing said problem, then implementing a targeted solution.

Good policy is NOT made by
-Lecturing one side on what they "need"
-Insulting the other side
-Relying on emotional arguments
-Dismissing concerns the other side raises
-Labeling everything one side says as "Common sense", thus automatically labeling everything the other side says as Not Common Sense
-Refusing to compromise

The gun control debate features 100% of the NOT list above and is therefore never going to result in good policy.

Speaking of statistics, I'll reference one of the three lawsuits challenging Washington State's new Assault Weapons ban:
assets.nationbuilder.com - Hartford v Ferguson MPI

The fact that 'assault' rifles are used extremely rarely in crime underscores that AR-15s
and other banned rifles are commonly possessed by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes.
Evidence indicates that 'well under 1% [of crime guns] are 'assault rifles.' ' GARY KLECK,
TARGETING GUNS: FIREARMS AND THEIR CONTROL 112 (1997). From 2015 through 2020, only
2.4% of murders were committed with any type of rifle. See Crime Data Explorer, FBI, U.S. DEP'T
OF JUST. (2020), https://bit.ly/3AA8Qwj; Expanded Homicide Data Table 8: Murder Victims by
Weapon, 2015'2019, Crime in the United States, FBI, U.S. DEP'T OF JUST. (2019),
https://bit.ly/31WmQ1V (72,781 total murders; 1,573 with rifles). Murder by 'hands, fists, feet, etc.' was almost twice as common, at 3,346, over the same time period'and murder by handgun,
at over 30,000, was over 20 times as common.

You mentioned anecdotes. Here's one.
At 6AM I saw in my Ring app feed that a neighbor a few blocks away heard a sawing noise at 4:30. When he yelled at the people outside (who were trying to cut off his catalytic converter from his car) they fired several shots in the air.