The great challenge of gun control advocates is convincing enough people, or their representatives in Congress, that the next policy will do the trick and put a giant dent in gun violence. Unfortunately, most of the advocated proposals have three issues to overcome:

1. They typically target legal activity. The overwhelming number of gun owners follow federal and state laws. Criminals do not. New regulations on gun ownership would burden lawful owners while doing little to combat crime.
2. The proposals themselves would have minimal, if any, impact on gun violence.
3. The new ideas don’t address the problem of enforcement, particularly as it relates to background checks.

The three most significant policies gun control advocates hope to pass are the “assault weapons” ban, a limit on magazine capacity, and background checks for any sale or transfer that falls outside the already required law for such purchases.