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In reply to the discussion: Obama says won't campaign for any Democrat who doesn't back gun reforms [View all]benEzra
(12,148 posts)I think you've put your finger on the misunderstanding that cost Gore his home state in '00 and Kerry so many blue-collar Dems in '04, and that is that most gun owners Gen-X and younger don't own the same styles of guns that were/are popular with the Baby Boomer generation. So tailoring legislation around straight-stocked rifles, revolvers, and large-caliber single-stack pistols hasn't made sense for 40+ years now; by and large, that's not what we own. I don't expect you necessarily to approve of our choices, but it's good to at least understand the scope of what you're advocating. FWIW, I'm a Gen-X gunnie and casual USPSA competitor,
What Gore/Kerry didn't understand is that banning rifle handgrips that stick out, when the most popular rifles in U.S. homes have handgrips that stick out, is a slap in the face to mainstream rifle owners, not just to fringe types who play dress-up on the weekends. Given that handgrip shape has nothing to do with rifle lethality, and rifles are the least misused of all weapons (all rifles put together kill fewer Americans annually than bicycles), the *only* thing such bans do is harass lawful owners.
Likewise, banning magazines over 10 rounds has much broader impact than you think, given that 15+ round rifle magazines have been mainstream since the 1860s, and most smallish-caliber carbines and full-sized 9mm pistols have used such magazines since the 1930's. Banning anything over 10 rounds would affect 50+ million owners and probably a third of a billion magazines; it's not a fringe thing.