Gun ruling: Good for the Democrats?

The NRA and gun advocates, which tend to have Republican leanings, won a monumental victory with Monday's Supreme Court ruling that all Americans have a right to own a handgun, regardless of where they live. "But who won the day in politics?" argues Politico's Kasie Hunt. "The Democrats." The ruling takes the gun-rights issue off the table in the upcoming November elections, which could help conservative Democrats keep their seats — and the Democrats keep control of Congress. So, should Dems be cheering?

Democrats did dodge a bullet: Democrats are happy, "as well they should be," says Allahpundit at Hot Air, but Republicans should be, too. Yes, "there are plenty of gun-control true believers still out there," but they've lost the argument, even in the Democratic Party. "I always laugh" at blog posts about Obama "trying to grab people's guns" — even if he wanted to, "his party would never forgive him for the fallout."

"Democrats pretty darned excited..."

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This battle isn't over: The ruling may be good for pro-gun Democrats, says Jonathan Tobin in Commentary. But anyone who thinks it "neutralizes" the gun issue is "kidding themselves." Quite the contrary: Another 5-4 decision just highlights how tenuous gun rights are, and even pro-gun Democrats would happily "tip the balance" on the high court.

"Did SCOTUS ruling on guns help the Dems?"

The ruling probably won't change much: Gun activists "can never acknowledge victory," says Steve M. in No More Mister Nice Blog. Understandably, perhaps: Enjoying their big win would be financial suicide for the NRA, "and emotionally, rank-and-file right-wingers always cling to the notion that they're besieged and aggrieved." Hopefully Democrats aren't really "naive" enough to celebrate, either.

"Are Democrats really this naive regarding guns?"

This is all overblown: The Politico argument misses the point, says Jamelle Bouie in The Washington Independent. "Gun control hasn't been a major election issue since the 1990s," largely due to Democrats giving up. They "won't even touch commonsense gun control legislation, like the assault weapons ban"; conservatives prevailed on this issue ages ago, "whether they realize it or not."

"Conservatives have won the gun control argument"