For those old timers out there, it was worse after the murder of Bobby Kennedy back in 1968. A media led national Hysteria campaign against “gun violence”.
IIRC the modern push for gun control began even earlier in 1963, following the JFK assassination. I was 15 & Lyndon Johnson was already railing against “mail order murder”.
You are Spot On. I remember when that happened and the next thing I saw was a full page magazine ad showing a man's neck cross-haired in the sniper scope, with a screaming banner "CONTACT YOUR SENATOR WHILE YOU STILL HAVE ONE!" By the Brady Bunch, naturally.