Now that we've had another mass shooting - this one complete with an arsenal of weapons and protective gear - gun control is on the policy agenda, but only in a very limited way. No commentator seems to think that there is a likelihood that any meaningful gin control legislation will be introduced or passed in Congress. Its suggested that this might be due to the increased strength of the gun lobby broadly and the National Rifle Association specifically. They seem to do an effective job ensuring that policies they disagree with are kept off the legislative agenda.
Since we spend time speculating on the nature of interest groups and what factors contribute to interest group strength, it might be worth looking into how the gun lobby has responded to this event - or perhaps better, preconditioned a response to it - in order to ensure that gun control stays off the public policy agenda despite the inevitable calls that follow events like this.
Search away.
