… The appropriate test for public policy is whether it maximizes our chances of achieving the outcomes we want as a society. And when it comes to preventing gun violence, including mass shootings, it’s impossible to argue that we are doing that. …
Like other issues rooted in cultural affinities, gun control unites Republicans by ideology but divides Democrats by geography. So long as red-state Democratic House and Senate members resist gun control, and Republicans from blue and swing states don’t feel irresistible pressure to support it, Congress is unlikely to approve major legislation restricting access to firearms.
But that’s no reason to stop formulating an updated national agenda to confront gun violence. In presidential politics, gun-control advocates face a more competitive landscape than in Congress. Measures to restrict access generally draw strong support within the growing constituencies (particularly minorities and college-educated white women) and the states that have provided Democrats the edge in most presidential elections since 1992. Advancing new initiatives to reduce gun violence could strengthen the Democrats’ hold on that winning coalition in places like the suburbs of Denver or Philadelphia—and pressure the GOP nominee to respond. CONT.
Ron Brownstein, National Journal