Gun control could cost the Democratic Party the presidential election. It is such a divisive issue, and so unpopular that they are achieving the alienation of at least a third of the total voting population. That is why President Obama avoided the issue in his first election and why the party lost control of congress in 1994 after the assault weapons ban was passed. It could have been the deciding factor that cost Al Gore the presidency.
As the Washington times put it “the gun control issue is a loser” on the national level. A few years ago the Democratic Party “put out a paper some years ago warning candidates to not talk about gun control, calling it a loser issue” because of the long history of self-destructive support for the topic. If you want examples look at what happened in 1994 after the assault weapons ban was passed. The Democrats lost fifty-four seats in the house and eight in the senate. Both put Republicans at a majority and gave them control of congress. Even more recently look at the Vermont primary. Bernie Sanders most likely won that state because of his slightly more lax history on gun control. Vermont has a strong hunting and gun culture so it would make sense that they would hesitate when it comes to Hillary.
The main factor here is that many Americans do not trust the government. Either they do not trust it as an institution, or they do not trust it to protect them. The latter is the more common. So when given the choice between calling the police who “will show up when they can, but in most cases it’s too late to actually stop the attack” or having a firearm ready to protect their families with a 147-grain projectile traveling at 1126 feet per second the choice is easy. Assurances like “just call the police — it’s their job” are nothing more than “callous putdowns from those who never worry about their own safety”. It is no coincidence that the sale of firearms and the decrease in crime rate have been so closely linked. Though correlation is far from causation, the correlation at least proves that the more guns more crime narrative is completely false.
Many of the recent attempts at gun control have been based on misleading and false information. For example, the universal background check push sounds great. That is until you tell people taking the poll that every gun purchase from a licensed dealer requires a background check. Another popular one is closing the “Gun show loophole” in which anyone can buy a gun without a background check. Until you mention that “gun shows are governed by the same laws as all other gun sales, and that there is no exception for these community gatherings”. Another popular one is the classic “I don’t think the average person should be able to buy a full auto assault weapon”. That is until you tell them that the Hughes amendment all but banned the private sale of full auto firearms in this coutry.
“In the age of information, ignorance is a choice” Donny Miller
Quotations from Following source
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/feb/10/tom-gresham-why-gun-control-is-a-loser-for-the-dem/
I would like to add another factor that I think definitely makes it hard to pass gun control legislation in America; we love our guns. Beyond wanting them for personal protection or practical matters, much of the United States has some form of gun culture embedded in it. People grow up and live with them everyday and are very attached to guns. In many cases, they even have sentimental values to us. In any case, the sentimental feelings associated with guns is one thing that makes attempts at changing US firearm policy so difficult.