In the wake of the horrific mass shooting in an Aurora, Colo., many are urging a new conversation on gun control while others acknowledge with bitter resignation that no meaningful action to restrict guns will be taken because the will for it just isn’t there. Support for tighter gun laws has dropped sharply over the past 20 years, and gun rights groups have far more political clout than gun control advocates. Liberal and left-leaning websites are full of comments lamenting America’s barbaric gun culture and Americans’ irrational attachment to firearms. Yet a closer look at the facts shows that it’s...