The Party of Gun Control No More

This sounds promising:

The expected election of former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean as chairman of the Democratic National Committee this month will strike a crippling blow to the gun-control movement, lobbyists and political observers say.

Like Dean, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is a strong supporter of gun rights. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) supports gun control but rarely mentioned the issue before the 2004 election.

[...]

Reid has maintained close ties to both local and federal gun-rights groups, particularly the NRA.

On Sept. 22, 2004, [NRA Executive Director Chris] Cox wrote Reid a thank-you note stating, “On behalf of the nearly 4 million NRA members nationwide, I wanted to thank you personally for your efforts in defending the Second Amendment during your tenure in Congress.”

This has been a losing issue for Democrats for a while. In 2000 the NRA claimed partial credit for the defeat of Al Gore, who mistakenly interpreted the popular horror over the massacre at Columbine as a mandate for more government restriction of non-criminal gun ownership. I am glad to see that they may be coming to their senses.

However, in answer to Glenn Reynolds's question, "Is Gun Control Dead?", I would have to say: probably not. As long as there are people who think they should be able to tell you how to live your life -- whatever their motivation -- they will need to take away your guns. The Liberal/Nanny crowd will do it because they want to save you from yourself. The Leftist/Totalitarian crowd will do it because they don't want you to be able to fight back. The issue has receded for the time being and we should take whatever strategic advantage we can from that fact. But the fight goes on.