The gun problem is very simple. There is no organization to counter the NRA.

[RBInMaine]

22. You make some good points, however, as a gun owner myself, I would say the following:

The law that was just defeated is OVERWHELMINGLY supported by the American people, INCLUDING gun owners, and was proposed as a compromise measure by a conservative Democrat and a conservative Republican with A-Ratings from the NRA, and yet STILL failed. It is a measure the NRA once said they APPROVED. So gun owners' interests were certainly considered.

How could this happen? It happened because the NRA mobilized its core of folks who lobbied hard against it along with its chief paid lobbyists, and, just as the President said, they LIED to gin up that core base and make them think it would lead to a national registry. They LIE to make their most vocal folks oppose ANY, I say again, ANY new gun control legislation. As the President pointed out, people understand that the background checks law was NOT a threat to law abiding gun owners' to own guns, hunt, etc. In fact, the current gun control movement CONSTANTLY says that. Many in it are gun owners themselves, including Gabby Giffords. So the current movement is a huge shift away from being "anti gun" to one of "let's improve current laws and practices and make them more effective while respecting the rights of safe and law abiding gun owners".

The NRA is a longstanding, highly financed lobby with a very long experience with their propaganda and political lobbying. They know what buttons to push with their base, and they know how to intimidate ANYONE who tries to counter them. They have a very vocal and politically active core, and they will run viscious attack ads against politicians who oppose them. This is a highly financed, highly experienced, longstanding and powerful lobby, and THAT is what scares the politicians. They are NOT intimidated by those who are NOT organized. Political weight is thrown through ORGANIZATION. And believe me that if there was a counter organization just as powerful as the NRA, that extremely popular bill would most likely have passed.