Gun Control

Supporters of a measure that would have expanded background checks for firearm purchases decried the bill's death in the Senate last month. But was the defeat really such a bad thing? Had it passed, the new law would have been hailed as a historic breakthrough by "anti-gun" forces and a historic mistake by "pro-gun" forces. But on the ground, where American citizens are being shot and killed every day, nothing much would have changed. That's the way things have gone for decades in the grinding American culture war over guns.

HOUSTON - Vowing that “we will never surrender,” the leader of the National Rifle Assn. claimed victory over recently defeated gun control legislation and denounced “political and media” elites for vilifying gun owners and supporting laws that would limit their rights rather than stop criminals. “We will never give up or compromise our constitutional freedom - not one single inch,” NRA Chief Executive Wayne LaPierre told hundreds of supporters at the group's annual meeting here.

WASHINGTON--Ever since last week's defeat of new gun control measures in the Senate, advocates have talked up the possibility that public outrage could turn a short-term loss into long-term victory for their cause. Maybe not, new polling suggests. While more Americans (47%) reported a negative reaction to the Senate action than a positive one (39%), the poll, done by the Washington Post and the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, found that the kind of strong feelings that build political campaigns mostly lay on the pro-gun side of the debate.

WASHINGTON -- Two top senators predicted Thursday that gun legislation will come up again for a Senate vote - possibly before the end of the year - as public attitudes shift toward stricter controls. Their assessment comes after the defeat last week of a widely popular bipartisan background check measure that was drafted in response to the elementary school shooting in Newtown, Conn., after a gunman opened fire, killing 26 people, mostly children. “I think we're going to bring this bill back before the end of the year and I think you may find some changes,” said Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.)

Don't look for Max Baucus in a new edition of “Profiles in Courage.” My colleague Jon Healey on Tuesday lamented the effect that the Montana Democratic senator's decision to not seek reelection in 2014 will have on an overhaul of the tax code. But my issue with Baucus is far less complex; in fact, I just wonder one thing: Why couldn't Baucus throw us gun control advocates a bone on his way out the door? Recall that last week, Baucus was one of four Democratic senators who voted against extending background checks on gun purchases.

SACRAMENTO - "Living in parallel universes," is how Senate leader Darrell Steinberg describes it. Gun control and gun rights advocates "talking past each other. " Emanating from different cultures, incapable of agreeing on how to make us all safer from firearms. Their opposite views were in full voice last week in the Legislature during a marathon 10-hour committee hearing - longest anyone could remember - on gun bills. Unlike in Washington, where gun control forces couldn't muster enough strength in the U.S. Senate to pass legislation expanding background checks, a state Senate committee in Sacramento approved eight bills to strengthen California's already stringent firearms regulations.

HELENA, Mont. - Stephen Watt is no stranger to gun violence. In 1982, as a 26-year-old Wyoming state trooper, he stopped a fleeing bank robber who pumped five bullets into Watt before leaving him for dead on an empty stretch of highway. Watt lost his left eye and a good chunk of his liver. He has a bullet lodged in his spine, which still causes pain, and uses crutches and a wheelchair to get around. Despite all that, Watt is a fierce opponent of gun control, convinced it doesn't work.

Early on in the Sunday morning panel about "Guns in America," author and UCLA constitutional law professor Adam Winkler held up his new book, "Gunfight: The Battle Over the Right to Bear Arms in America," and opened it to an 1879 photograph of Dodge City, Kan., one of the most storied of the Wild West towns. The photograph depicted a familiar scene of a dusty street and squared wooden facades. But there was also the unexpected: A sign warning that carrying a firearm in town was “strictly prohibited.” "The Wild West towns like Tombstone (and Dodge City)

WASHINGTON - Supporters of stricter gun laws have organization, money and - after the Senate blocked an expansion of background-check requirements - fury. What they don't have is a clear path to changing the political arithmetic of the U.S. Congress. None of next year's Senate races offers a good opportunity to replace a senator who backs gun rights with one who supports tougher laws. Three senators who voted against expanding background checks face tough elections next year.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) formally suspended the Democrats' drive for new gun control legislation Thursday, shelving his party's bill after Wednesday's defeat of its centerpiece, a measure for expanded background checks on gun purchasers. But Reid, along with President Obama and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), insisted that they are determined to fight on. “This debate is not over,” Reid said. “In fact, this fight is just beginning.” Are they whistling in the dark?