Opinion survey data have been used to assert that the public’s desire for serious gun control has been blocked by the “gun lobby.” This construction is opposed by a survey-based counter construction developed by the gun lobby. The superiority of the gun lobby’s construction is supported by this article’s survey data and by analysis of actual elections in 1976 in Massachusetts and in 1982 in California. What blocks the public from getting strict gun control is that the public does not want it.