This could be a tactic by Bloomberg to let us (his enemy) let our guard down and sleep on the job. I'm not buying it for a second, and I'll maintain political pressure.
Political pressure needs to be maintained, no debate about that.
However, let's just all keep a little perspective on hand when we start talking about these people being sophisticated master manipulators. They aren't that smart, they aren't 10 feet tall (even if some of their wallets are ten feet tall), and they are showing themselves to be increasingly out of touch with modern American voters of all flavors when it comes to gun control.
We can defeat these people. I don't just mean we can block this round of legislation. I mean we can break them. Look at the general trajectory of concealed carry policies by state over the last 30-40 years. Look at the ubiquitousness of the AR and defensive handguns in most parts of this country. When was the last time national level mainstream politicians on either side were even willing to do more than pay lip service to the idea of gun control
except when some tragedy provided a short opening? Look at the fact that while one side was screaming about outlawing guns after Sandy Hook, the other side was successfully advancing the idea of
more guns being
in schools as protection and potential remedy against lunatics.
Think about that last part -- what gun related mass shooting in the last 30 years has led to successful pushes at the local level and real debate at the state and national level about the value of armed civilians as a component of collective security for citizens and their children?
This fight is going to be nasty and hard, but not because I think Obama is determined to make anti-2A action his legacy but because I think the proliferation of post-9/11 and post-Obama gun sales and everything else that has happened since the '94 AWB has made the anti-2A movement's leadership aware that they are at, or approaching, a demographic tipping point where nothing but failure and marginalization yawns out in front of them. They will lash out -- and we need to push hard to ensure they don't succeed as the flail desperately -- but I don't see the weight of history of their side right now.