Why there's no more debate on gun control


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: FORTUNE -- The tragic shooting on Saturday of Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D) and 19 others has renewed a national conversation about whether our Gun Laws need tightening.

But the chatter for the most part has so far ignored a curious fact: in Congress, the arena where any new restrictions would be decided, the debate effectively ended years ago.

Even over the last two years, when Democrats controlled both the White House and Congress, Gun Rights advocates led by the National Rifle Associati...