That article missed the most salient point, I think.
The article is correct that the party (primarily DLC'ers) pushed hard for new gun bans in '96, '00, and '04. I don't know why anyone would dispute that. It's also indisputable that supporters of those bans
lost seats in every election between 1994 and 2004 (both (D) and (R)), and that the Senate was turned blue in 2006 by anti-AWB Dems, aided by Dean's "no new gun bans" message as part of the 50-State Strategy.
The point the authors of that article miss is that it was the "assault weapon" bait-and-switch itself that created the "Dems'll-take-yer-guns" meme, not imaginary . Dropping that in '06 is what allowed Webb, Tester, and Casey to defuse the gun issue entirely.
The gun issue is not, and has never been, about hunting guns; only 1 in 5 gun owners is a hunter, and even Sarah Brady herself is OK with 19th-century-style deer rifles. The issue is about handguns, small- and intermediate-caliber civilian rifles with modern styling, and defensive-style shotguns. Many of the most popular civilian target rifles and defensive carbines in America are already banned in the State of California, and would have been outlawed nationwide by S.1431 (2004), H.R.1022 (2007),
ad nauseaum.
Senator Kerry's vocal support for S.1431 hurt him badly in '04, just as Gore's support for similar measures cost him TN and WV (and thereby the electoral college) in '00. Both Gore and Kerry made their support for hunting, and 19th-century-styled hunting guns, loud and clear, but that completely missed the point.
It's a pretty complex issue and seems to be a political football of convenience. Ex: Romney and his hunting saga and Kerry and Huckabee duck hunting pics.
Romney has the same liabilities on the gun issue as Kerry did in '04 and Gore did in '00, i.e. he unwittingly promised to outlaw the most popular civilian target rifles and defensive carbines in America. Romney was clueless on the issue until it was too late. I'm not sure
what to think about the Huckabee sideshow.
A blanket statement about gun control laws is disingeuous. There are already gun control laws. Citizens cannot own land mines, not kidding, some "RW patriot militias" brag about them. I suspect RPG's, tanks, are restricted, too. No ack-ack's in the backyard! LOL.
By and large, gun owners are OK with the existing strict controls on automatic weapons, explosives and other ordnance, RPG's, and firearms over .50 caliber, and have been for 74 years now. That does
not mean that we are OK with arbitrary bans on the most popular CIVILIAN rifles in America,
a la S.1431 or H.R.1022.
It's not about gun ownership, as much as it is, about society defining which weapons are appropriate for citizens and wether or not there should be any regulation by law enforcement.
The question of what weapons are appropriate for citizens was settled by compromise 74 years ago and embodied in the National Firearms Act.
Restricted military/government/law enforcement weapons (NFA Title 2): automatic, burst mode, and selective-fire weapons (including assault rifles, MSM fearmongering to the contrary), sound-suppressed weapons, cut-down rifles and shotguns, explosives, and guns over .50 caliber (except shotguns). Possession of any Title 2 weapon outside military/police/government use is a 10-year felony, unless you first obtain Federal authorization (BATFE Form 4).
Civilian guns (NFA Title 1): semiautomatic (one shot per trigger pull) or manually operated handguns, rifles, and shotguns, except that handguns and rifles must be .50 caliber or less, rifles and shotguns must meet minimum barrel length and overall length requirements, and may not include sound suppressors.
The "assault weapon" bait-and-switch is merely an attempt to move the most popular NFA Title 1 civilian guns into the restricted government-use-only category, and is absolutely unacceptable. You'd affect fewer gun owners with an outright ban on hunting than with a ban on "assault weapons" as defined by H.R.1022.
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Dems and the Gun Issue - Now What? (written in '04, largely vindicated in '06, IMO)
The Conservative Roots of U.S. Gun Control
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