&gt; the 45% of Americans who don&#x27;t want stricter gun control? I wouldn&#x27;t call those people a &quot;special interest group&quot;.<p>I agree, but I don&#x27;t think state legislatures&#x27; actions are very responsive to public opinion: 1) Very few citizens vote in state legislative elections or pay attention to what happens in their state capitals (for example, how many people reading this can even name their state legislators?), and 2) because gerrymandering makes many districts guranteed wins for one party, few legislators&#x27; seats are at risk.<p>In the end, the political parties decide who gets what seat and in many cases I think they are heavily influenced by special interests. Many bills in state legislatures are written by lobbyists, in fact. Look up ALEC, for example, or in this case the NRA.