IT WOULD TAKE SIXTY MASSACRES

No, I don't think Michael Moore went too far on Piers Morgan's show last night:

Too Far? Michael Moore: If Gunman Killed Harry Reid's Grandkids, He Wouldn't Drop Assault Weapons Ban

... Morgan brought up Rob Portman's gay marriage reversal coming from his own son being gay, and couldn't help but wonder how much the [gun] debate would change if there were members of Congress whose children were victims of gun violence. Moore was a lot more graphic in his assessment.

"If a man with an assault weapon goes in to the school where Harry Reid's grandchildren go to school tomorrow and kills his grandchildren, would he go in front of his microphone at 5:00 and say, 'I know how Dianne [Feinstein] had to witness the mayor getting murdered, and I just--my grandchildren just got killed today, but, you know, we can't get it passed 'cause we just don't have the votes."

That point may have been made tastelessly, but it's valid. If that happened, this issue would matter a hell of a lot more to Harry Reid than it does now.

But he still wouldn't be able to get sixty votes for the assault weapons ban. And sooner or later -- probably sooner -- he'd acknowledge that.

It would take sixty massacres affecting senators' children and grandchildren to get cloture for a vote on an assault weapons ban. Or, well, maybe not sixty -- Harry Reid says the ban has fewer than forty votes. So it would take more than twenty massacres involving senators' families to get the ban through the Senate.

Or, of course (as I said last night), it would take a genuine change in public opinion. The number of one-issue pro-gun-control voters would need to rival the number of pro-gun voters. I still don't know how we get to that point. I don't know how we increase the number of committed gun-control voters. I don't know how we reduce the number of committed NRA voters -- polls say the NRA is out of step even with gun owners on many issues relating to guns, so where are the waves of disgusted gun owners forgoing their membership?

Any ideas for how to change this? I'm all ears.