tics showing how the NRA and its allies outspend gun-control groups by a ratio of almost 27-to-one. (Mother Jones, June 1999). These numbers appear influential, but money is of secondary importance for explaining its influence. The simple fact is that the NRA's money has power because there is a critical mass of voters out there who are attracted to its message. An analysis of those 45 Democrats who voted against HR 2122 reveals overwhelming number representing swing districts, primarily from southern and western districts that reflect their constituents' embrace of gun rights. For them, this is an issue that, if they fall on the wrong side of it, will cause them to lose their seat. (Project Vote Smart)The power of the NRA, then, has come from its power to influence the relatively few close elections that often can determine control of our legislatures. In those swing districts, a change in 5 percent of the vote can make all the difference -- both for winning those races and control of Congress. In the winner-take-all voting system that creates our adversarial politics, guns have been one of the most effective wedge issues for Republicans to cut into the Democrats' vote. Now, however, guns may backfire. Polls show that another "swing voter" slice of the electorate, the proverbial suburban "soccer moms," may change their vote based on gun control. So the two parties are trying to position themselves between the swings of the polls, and sound national policy gets caught in the crossfire. (Richie and Hill)Gun control is a regional issue that resonates differently in the cities than it does in rural and western areas. But as violence has spread to suburban schools, one place it has become particularly popular is in the suburbs. And the suburbs have become the swing areas in both the Presidential and Congressional elections. Gun control also appeals overwhelmingly to college-educated women, who have been considered key to the Democrats'...
