The Brady Campaign’s preemptive announcement of defeat in District of Columbia v. Heller contains an interesting bit of spin:
But given that McCain stood by his support for closing “the gun-show loophole” during a recent speech to the N.R.A., the Brady Campaign president hopes that new gun restrictions can make headway regardless of who wins in November.
“For John McCain to be the political candidate of the NRA shows how things have changed,” Helmke said.
Plus ca “change,” plus c’est la meme chose. In 2000, the NRA endorsed Texas Governor George W. Bush, who supported a similar provision regarding gun shows. Accordingly, the NRA’s endorsement of McCain is not good evidence that gun control is more popular in 2008 than it was in 2000.