Is enacting gun control a political risk? Congress blinks
SabrinaSiddiqui
Saturday 3 October 2015 12.08 EDT
... One such litmus test occurred last year in the 2014 midterm elections, when the odds were arguably stacked against gun control advocates. Democrats suffered heavy losses at the state and federal levels, losing control over the US Senate and suffering defeats in key gubernatorial races across the country.
But two governors, Democrats who were deemed vulnerable, survived: Dan Malloy of Connecticut and John Hickenlooper of Colorado. Both signed into law sweeping gun reforms.
One could argue their constituents were behind those efforts – for Malloy, the action followed the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown. For Hickenlooper the legislation was prompted by the Aurora movie theater shooting that same year.
But Hickenlooper, especially, was a top target for the NRA. Gun rights advocates had recalled in 2013 two state Democrats in Colorado who voted for his gun package, which expanded background checks and placed a ban on high-capacity magazines ...
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/oct/03/gun-control-oregon-shooting-congress-colorado-connecticut