I don't think legislation on it would pass without some crisis to exploit like Las Vegas and bump stocks. However, there are two angles to it that I think are important:
This is something the administration is starting to focus on as a pre-midterm issue with a campaign promise to have that plan within 100 days. He's handing their propaganda networks the line, "he'll take your guns and hold witch trials against his enemies before he feeds your family". Electorally that's not good. When his strategy is reaching out to those people instead of the left, it's especially not good.
That right-wing hysteria has already translated to escalating terrorism, militia action, and storming the capitol to assassinate national politicians with the most tepid response by politicians and police that could be asked for. They could either fall into resentful acceptance of an ideologically right-wing administration or double down on the trend of the past decade. The spectacle of this encourages the latter because it shows that the hysteria isn't a baseless threat. Combine it with a militarised Washington DC and a prosecutor as VP and you're providing all the optics of an imminent dictatorship. That's a bigger selling point than race war or Christian dominionism because you can plainly point at it.
Democrats have barely gotten anything done in my entire lifetime. That doesn't mean they haven't driven a Spectacle of an agenda. That Spectacle is so strong that a good chunk of the those hysterical people believe the democrats are baby-drinking Satanic paedophiles. Driving them further in that direction in a time where the material conditions underlying their psychosis are decaying at a rapid pace without relief is a more dangerous thing now than it would have been when things were better.
Because there is none. Democrats have bad takes on guns, but don't fall into right-wing hysteria about this stuff.
I don't think legislation on it would pass without some crisis to exploit like Las Vegas and bump stocks. However, there are two angles to it that I think are important:
This is something the administration is starting to focus on as a pre-midterm issue with a campaign promise to have that plan within 100 days. He's handing their propaganda networks the line, "he'll take your guns and hold witch trials against his enemies before he feeds your family". Electorally that's not good. When his strategy is reaching out to those people instead of the left, it's especially not good.
That right-wing hysteria has already translated to escalating terrorism, militia action, and storming the capitol to assassinate national politicians with the most tepid response by politicians and police that could be asked for. They could either fall into resentful acceptance of an ideologically right-wing administration or double down on the trend of the past decade. The spectacle of this encourages the latter because it shows that the hysteria isn't a baseless threat. Combine it with a militarised Washington DC and a prosecutor as VP and you're providing all the optics of an imminent dictatorship. That's a bigger selling point than race war or Christian dominionism because you can plainly point at it.
Democrats have barely gotten anything done in my entire lifetime. That doesn't mean they haven't driven a Spectacle of an agenda. That Spectacle is so strong that a good chunk of the those hysterical people believe the democrats are baby-drinking Satanic paedophiles. Driving them further in that direction in a time where the material conditions underlying their psychosis are decaying at a rapid pace without relief is a more dangerous thing now than it would have been when things were better.