General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: The actual reason that we lost on gun control. [View all]DanTex
(20,709 posts)My point is that the reason Dems lose on gun control is the same reason they lose on those other issues.
I also agree that AWB alone wouldn't make a big difference on violent crime rates. Universal background checks would help, but even that isn't far enough. What we really need, at the very least, is a national registry and serious NFA-style controls for all handguns and semi-automatic rifles. And even that wouldn't get us the whole way. To get our homicide rate in line with the rest of the developed world, we would probably need to go further, and restrict handgun ownership to a "may-issue" basis, like they have in a lot of other countries, where you need to have a reason to own a handgun.
I know, none of that is going to happen. But neither is Glass-Steagall, or instant-runoff voting, or publicly financed elections, or any of that other stuff. For many of the same reasons that we won't get any serious gun control. Right-wing special interests are better funded and better organized than the left.