When it comes to stronger gun safety laws, all politics is increasingly local.
Last year, the gun lobby generated a furious recall election in Colorado that drew national headlines. It successfully ousted two state lawmakers who’d helped enact tighter controls over gun sales and ammunition clips following the massacres in Aurora and at Sandy Hook elementary school.
There was far less attention paid last week to the surprising turnabout: The two pro-gun rights lawmakers elected in the recall were abruptly ejected from office in this year’s mid-terms. It appears that the narrowly focused recall forces were unable to dominate in a higher turnout election.
The results in Colorado are an example of why gun-control groups are changing their strategy. Instead of lobbying Capitol Hill, where the gun lobby’s political clout has left lawmakers timorous, they’re seeking stronger safety laws state by state and relying more directly on the public. Polls, after all, indicate that a majority of Americans favor more stringent gun control measures.
Beyond the encouragement in Colorado, gun safety activists are hailing the election results in Washington State. A sizeable majority of voters there—nearly 60 percent—approved an initiative to close loopholes at gun shows and on the Internet.
Similar state initiatives are in the works, with strong support from the gun-control lobbying organizations supported by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Erika Soto Lamb, communications director for Mr. Bloomberg’s Everytown for Gun Safety, said: “We showed in this election that guns are not a third rail of politics.”
Still, the fight for greater gun safety remains arduous and uphill.
In the national capital, the undeniable election winner on guns was the National Rifle Association. It spent tens of millions and politicked heavily to boost Republican candidates. With Republicans assuming control of the Senate, the possibility of stronger federal gun safety laws is even more remote than it was previously.