It's true that Democrats control congress, but it hasn't done them much good. Even McCarthy has stated that it is a pro gun congress now, and anti-gun legislation will be tough to pass. She is there on the floor and knows what she is up against in promoting what many now see for what it is, ineffective anti-gun legislation.
It does no good for them to pretend to be anything. In the long run it's their votes on the floor that count, not what they say, and as many editorials have pointed out lately the pro-gun voters don't forget. They will remember come next election, and the Democrats know that, they have experienced it first hand.
The primary goal of any politican is to be re-elected, and they can see the current trend in supporting self defense use of firearms that is sweeping across the nation. To take a stand against that could mean political suicide. After all, it is finally becoming obvious to the population that gun control hasn't worked any better than drug control, and even though the hard core anti-gunners still have their stand it seems that many of the fence-sitters that could go either way are starting to see the light. This is helped lately by the liberal media actually starting to air bits that are less biased, a shift away from the absolute gun control mentality of the past.
Times have changed, the biased liberal MSM is no longer the only source of information for concerned citizens. They now exchange information and facts instantly over the internet, and many that didn't realize it before are now seeing how biased against guns the MSM has become.
Politicians always want to be on the winning side. If the trend in pro-gun opinions continue we will see more of them doing a flip-flop in their stance on gun control, as Guillani and others have done. Still not pro-gun yet, but not as strongly anti-gun. As pro-gun becomes the "flavor of the month", supported by the opinions of the voters, many more will be jumping on board.
But then I tend to be an optimist....