Why has the gun debate shifted so far to the right? Didn't Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan both call for semiautomatic weapons bans?

Why has the gun debate shifted so far to the right? Didn't Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan both call for semiautomatic weapons bans?

We actually had one for a few decades. It didn't work which is why we don't anymore. Not a single statistic moved. In fact they have been dropping since it was allowed to expire.

What is it they say about doing the same thing and expecting different results?

"We actually had one for a few decades. It WORKED WELL, so the GOP had it killed."

"Federal Assault Weapons Ban"
https://en.wikipedia.org/...eapons_Ban

In 2004, the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence examined the impact of the Assault Weapons Ban, On Target: The Impact of the 1994 Federal Assault Weapon Act. Examining 1.4 million guns involved in crime, "in the five-year period before enactment of the Federal Assault Weapons Act (1990-1994), assault weapons named in the Act constituted 4.82% of the crime gun traces ATF conducted nationwide. Since the law's enactment, however, these assault weapons have made up only 1.61% of the guns ATF has traced to crime.

Do you have ANY idea what "semiautomatic" means? Do you know whether the popular M1911 pistol is semiautomatic? What about the Colt 1872 revolver? What about a double-barreled shotgun?

Perhaps people are getting the idea that it is a societal PEOPLE problem, regardless of the tools they use. Ban the guns and aside from the bad guys still getting them, making them, importing them, if it gets tough for the average jerk, they will switch to cars and propane bombs to achieve maximum carnage.
It's about the PEOPLE with evil intent, not their tool of choice.

Yes, and Sarah Brady and her Gun control bandwagon pushed for these highly effective laws, that were full of the loopholes that we see being used today.

No they did not.