What did the gun rights movement do that we are not doing?

[Anti Federalist]

Even after Newtown, there is still formidable push back.

The gun rights effort, over thirty years time, worked against a hostile media, a brainwashed public and an antagonistic government.

Why are not all rights looked at in the same way by most of the public?

What is missing?

Is it too far gone at this point, that while one right was protected the rest were stripped away, so that the victory was Pyrrhic at best?

[Acala]

A few random thoughts . . .

There is really no money in it for politicians to be anti-gun. Go against the banks, the military contractors, oil, drugs, ag, any of the big special interests where BIG MONEY is at stake, and you will have some formidable opposition. But nobody makes money from banning guns. So the interest in banning guns is shallow among politicians. It is just for show. Even for the gun grabbers in the population it is usually just one of many issues and not a very important one.

On the other hand, there are a LOT of gun owners, they rally around a clear Constitutional provision, they get angry when they feel attacked, they don't forgive or forget, many of them are one issue voters, AND there are enough of them that get politically active to make a difference. In many places, gun owners can make or break a politician. After the last assault weapon ban, gun owners really went on the warpath. They took out several major politicians, some of whom were thought to be invulnerable. Many people credit gun owners with handing the legislature to the Republicans in the next election. Washington DC remembers that massacre.

So, for many politicians, it is a dangerous issue with little payoff.