Hillary Clinton is trying to make gun control a major part of the Democratic platform. AP

Hillary Clinton at a rally in Iowa. Yahoo/AP.

Hillary Clinton is trying to make gun control a major goal of the Democratic platform and is doing her best to make it an election issue. AP. Clinton wants to expand background checks and make laws that allow gun manufactures to be sued. Democrats in the past have avoided gun control as a presidential issue. Even Bill Clinton believed that Al Gore lost the 2000 election due to his support of gun control. The emphasis on gun control is widely seen as an attack on Clinton's main rival, Bernie Sanders. Sanders has a much more mixed record on gun rights and has, in the past, voted for protection for gun companies. The other rival in the Democratic race, Martin O'Malley, has also doubled down on gun control. In Iowa and New Hampshire Clinton is running adds where she meets with the mothers of Trayvon Martin, the man shot by George Zimmerman after he attacked him, and Michael Brown, the man who assaulted a police officer and was shot. 

My Comment:

Terrible move by Clinton. I don't believe for one second that she actually believes in gun control. Hillary Clinton doesn't believe in anything other then Hillary Clinton. She knows that gun control doesn't work and she doesn't actually think that she will accomplish anything. She just wants to create separation from Bernie Sanders, who isn't as extreme on gun rights, and she wants to cement support from the soccer mom demographic, who are already largely in support of her anyways. And she wants donations and money from gun control groups. 

She isn't going to win this way though. I don't buy for a second that support for gun control is increasing. Many of the polls I have seen have said the exact opposite. Though support tends to spike after an attack, that support evaporates very quickly. Indeed, after many mass shootings, gun control laws tend to be repealed in all except the bluest of blue states. And blue collar Democrats and Bernie Sanders supporters aren't anywhere near as unified on the gun control issue as they are on other issues. Her support for gun control may push people that would otherwise support her into the Republican party. 

And the level of support for gun control isn't anywhere near the level of support for gun rights. Gun control supporters, other then a few fanatics, are not single issue voters. Most of them have other priorities that they care about way more then they care about gun control. On the other hand, gun rights supporters are literally willing to go to war in order keep their guns. I remember when Sandy Hook happened I talked to a lot of friends and co-workers who supported gun rights. To a man they said that if the government came to take their guns they would respond with gunfire. Sure, some of that was big talk, but if even half of them were serious then any attempts at gun control would end in a bloodbath. 

Hillary Clinton recently said in a town hall meeting that Australian style gun confiscation was an idea worth thinking about. Though I truly believe that Clinton doesn't care about the issue at all, the fact that she even considered it makes her a major threat to gun rights. She may not have any actual political beliefs, but her supporters do and if she gets elected she might actually try to do something about gun rights. Though any gun control she passes will largely be toothless and more of an annoyance then anything else, it would reverse the trend for looser gun control laws in most of the country. 

All that being said, I think there is little that Hillary Clinton can actually do when it comes to gun rights. Remember, Republicans are likely to hold onto both houses of congress and they control many state legislatures and governors offices. There is basically no support for gun control in congress and many state governments are opposed as well. Yes there is the threat of her screwing up the Supreme Court, but if the Republicans control congress, does that even matter? And after all, Barack Obama, who actually does believe in gun control, was completely unable to get any kind of national gun control passed, even when he had more support from congress then Hillary is ever likely to get. All Clinton can do is executive orders if she gets elected. And those will be repealed the second a Republican takes the White House. 

Even if Hillary Clinton somehow was able to pass comprehensive gun confiscation, can you imagine what would happen? The best case scenario is widespread civil disobedience. Very few people would turn in their guns. Cops would not enforce the laws and governors would ignore pressure from the government. Eventually the government would have to back down. If not then it's civil war. That war would kill millions of people, destroy our government and wreck the world's economy. Quite frankly, gun confiscation is impossible for the United States and any attempt to try it is utter insanity. 

Hillary Clinton is many things but she is not stupid. She knows the political realities here. She knows that gun confiscation won't work. She knows that all she could accomplish is passing some stupid laws that would do nothing to stop mass shootings but would make legal gun owners have a tougher time of things, and that she would face massive resistance the entire way. She knows all this and doesn't care. She's doubling down on gun control not because she believes in it but because she believes that it hurts Bernie Sanders, her only real threat to the Democratic nomination. This isn't a real attempt by her to stand for something. It's just a cynical attempt to destroy a political rival. That doesn't mean the threat isn't real, but it does mean that Hillary Clinton is a bad person.