I support any law that prevents violence, tragic mass killings and other tragic crimes. I have just not seen a gun law that would do any of those things so I do not waste my time pursuing them, nor do I allow my elected officials to do so without a serious battle.
I agree with the above statement 100%, and have been trying to talk to friends who are in the gun grabber camp about their stance, and convince them that most of what they lobby for, doesn't actually do what they think it does. I had one guy tell me that he is so frustrated with gun violence that he's willing to basically throw out "solutions" and see if one sticks. Very strange behavior from otherwise intelligent people. It turns out that fear is a powerful master indeed.
My impression of Dan Baum when I read his recent article in harpers about the ar-15 and why it is foolish to attempt to ban it, was that he sympathisizes with the above quote entirely, except that perhaps guns are not his #1 issue. He sees the foolishness in laws that couldn't begin to do what people wish they would do. He is, like many in society, interested in reducing gun violence, but if you folks read anything he says, he acknowledges that pretty much no law proposed so far would actually do much if anything to reduce gun violence, and the proposals actually serve to further divide our society to the point where we can't do anything sensible. It seems more written to try to tell fellow "liberals" to calm down and find common ground, than for any other reason. I have been somewhat unsuccessfully doing the same thing, trying to explain to them that this is a loosing battle, and that if we want to reduce violence in society (who doesn't???) we need to look at other ways, such as reducing poverty, and increasing access to quality education and good paying jobs. Baum rightly points out the fact that gun crimes and gun deaths have fallen in this country while gun laws have become more lax in general, and the number of guns in society has increased.
I highly recommend reading his stuff with an open mind, rather than any preconceived ideas of what he wants and where he is coming from because he is a "liberal". He seems like a very pragmatic fellow with good intentions, and he seems to enjoy shooting guns for sport, and happy with the fact that his right to defend himself with a gun if face with violence is not to be infringed.
here are a couple of links to articles and commentary by him that you can read without having to pay for them:
http://harpers.org/blog/2013/05/on-gun-control-and-the-great-american-debate-over-individualism/
http://harpers.org/blog/2012/07/the-price-of-gun-control/
http://harpers.org/archive/2010/08/happiness-is-a-worn-gun/