WOW: Guns to surpass car accidents as leading cause of deaths among young people

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210. I do remember the background check vote and that also that it had overwhelming public support. ...

It was one of the changes to our gun laws that I have long supported. Many other gun owners also support this measure but obviously not all.

But despite the fact that this was a very popular bill it failed in the Senate on April 17, 2013.

Why was this? What lessons can we learn?

In my opinion universal background checks would have passed had it not been for this fact:

On January 24, Senator Feinstein introduced the Assault Weapons Ban of 2013, a bill to stop the sale, transfer, importation and manufacturing of military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition feeding devices.
http://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/assault-weapons

My point is that viewing the tragic Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting as a good opportunity to pass another AWB was the overreach that enabled the congressional Republicans and the NRA to stop any and all national gun legislation in the 2013 session.

It is my opinion that we need improvements to our national gun law and they can be accomplished as long as the gun control movement and their supporters in Congress realize that attempting to ban certain firearms is a deadly poison to reasonable change at the national level. Gun bans may work at the state level, so it would be my advise that the gun control movement focus on passing such laws at that level. If such bans prove to be effective they will have a higher chance of passing in other states. (I personally see little value in banning semiautomatic rifles because of cosmetic appearance and because rifles are rarely used for crime but that's an argument for a different post.)

You stated:

So, in short, no, I absolutely disagree that the way to get to better gun policy is to concede everything to the GOP before the negotiations even begin. National licensing and registration should be part of the discussion. Sure, it will really annoy about 10% of Americans who value their guns more than anything else. But, as I keep repeating, most Americans think this is a good idea. Those 10% aren't voting for Democrats anyway.

It is my view that gun control advocates do not have to concede everything but merely to understand that gun bans and gun registration are ideas that simply will not fly at the national level. Mention either and the Republicans know immediately that they have won and have no reason to compromise on any ideas you present. The threat of another AWB or gun registration is something the NRA, the gun manufacturers and the Republicans in Congress love to be threatened with. NRA membership will grow, gun manufacturers will sell several years of firearm production in six months and the Republicans will be glad that their gun loving base is fired up and will show up at the polls to vote for Republicans at the local, state and national levels.