The failure of "Anybody But Bush," part three

This episode comes to us courtesy of USA Today for September 9.

Several polls have indicated that there is broad public support for the ban [on assault weapons], and both President Bush and Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry say they support it.

So why is the law being allowed to die?

Because the politics of gun control have changed: Crime rates have been down for years, which has lowered the issue on the national agenda. The war in Iraq, fears about terrorism and other issues are getting more attention this election season.

And Democrats — many convinced that the ban's passage cost them at least 20 seats in Congress in the 1994 elections and that Al Gore's support for gun-control measures cost him the presidency in 2000 — largely have backed away from pushing gun control. ...

The Democratic Party's approach to gun control has shifted because of the perception among party strategists that the issue is radioactive with many voters. Four years ago, Gore pushed for a national system to register gun owners. Party officials believe that was a key factor when he lost West Virginia, Arkansas and Tennessee, three states where hunting is popular. The election would have swung to Gore if he had won any of those states.

And now John Kerry gets himself photographed in a hunting outfit, holding a shotgun, while Uzis and AK-47s again become legal.

Footnote: The NRA argues that the ban has been ineffective on the basis of a 1997 Justice Department survey of state and federal inmates in which less than 2% said they had used assault weapons during their crimes. However, such guns make up about 1% of the 200 million floating around the country and the same survey said that only 20% of those inmates used guns at all. Which means that while assault weapons make up 1% of guns, they made up 10% of those used in gun crimes, a disproportionately high number.