Gun control might have had a political chance in the wake of the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting last week, but Democrats ended the prospect of major changes when they backed Black Lives Matter and “Defund the Police” in the riotous summer of 2020.
The spectacle of mobs rampaging through America’s cities, while police were demonized and told to stand down, convinced millions of ordinary people that unless they owned a firearm, they would not be able to defend their businesses and families.
Moreover, many Democrats backed calls to cut funding to police or to abolish them entirely. The pushback from moderate Democrats was weak, as cities like Los Angeles cut $150 million — more than 10% — of the police budget, and crime surged.