and not because of the (very small) gun industry. Nor because of the NRA's existence, if you get down to it.

I've mentioned this before, but owners have political power because there are so many of us (circa 80 million at last count), we tend to be more connected than average, and we vote at higher than average rates. That is a very potent combination.

"Assault weapon" owners alone outnumber people on the Brady Campaign mailing list by more than 400:1, and owners of over-10-round guns outnumber Brady Campaign subscribers about 800:1. There's also the fact that the shooting sports are a very participatory and often social activity that draw tens of millions of participants annually, whereas anti-gun activism is not.