Barack Obama has stated absolutely that he does not believe anyone should be able to own a gun. It is quite clear that the Democrat aim is an eventual complete ban on weapons. That has always been a Leftist aim. See the Brady bunch. More people are killed with hammers and clubs each year than rifles.

There is not the slightest evidence that registration of guns, banning this kind or that kind of weapon accomplishes anything whatsoever. They always talk about guns being purchased without a background check at guns shows, but my information (admittedly anecdotal) is that gun shows require background checks.
The guns used to commit crimes are usually stolen or bought on the black market, which ‘unexpectedly’ includes rockets, mortars, machine guns and all sorts of military weapons.We have banned “assault weapons” before. Since the term is meaningless and means weapons that someone thinks are scary looking, the ban was completely ineffective. Canada instituted a registration of guns and that was ineffective. We mostly don’t have a gun problem, we have a gang problem.

Then you write, “Britain’s experience with gun control has meant a huge escalation in crime, particularly home invasion.” Huge? Evidence, please? According to the statistics here, crimes are 27.2% down from ten years ago. There is definitely no evidence of a “huge” increase in crime, especially in the rate of crime (i.e., per capita).

As for Australia, here is a more independent (and balanced) analysis of the statistics. Looks as if a lot of the claims of increased crime following the 1997 ban are mainly a case of “Figures don’t lie, but liars sure can figure”.

In any case, nobody is proposing for the United States anything akin to the restrictions on gun ownership that have been imposed by Britain or Australia.

Why, rather than engage in a discussion on what kind of “arms” is it appropriate for U.S. citizens to own, and what should be the processes for keeping guns out of the hands of people who should not have them, are so many Republicans simply following the speaking notes of the NRA?