The difference is the signifiers have been largely removed from their original essence and come to mean something else entirely. Terms like "Gun Control" are symbols that represent quasi-political identity that has very little to do with literal firearms.

This exists in tandem with the actual, real thing that is gun violence, resulting in an obfuscatory ebb and flow where communication is impossible. Politicians and pundits invoke the symbols to identify with target demographics, but the underlying material reality underneath all the spectacle is largely disconnected.