We must not lose focus on the end goal of progressives regarding guns.  Make no mistake; regardless of what they say, their ultimate goal is confiscation of all guns in America.  And a "universal background check" will get them closer to this nirvana than the banning of a few selected weapons ever could.

To understand progressive methodology, let's use another similar issue: the gay marriage agenda.  Say the current definition of "marriage" as it has been for thousands of years is represented by "A" on a continuum of A to Z, with "Z" being the left's ultimate goal.  Asking for "Z" now would be a major overreach (and "Z" is much farther than just gay marriage), so progressives ask for "N," which is just enough of a stretch to make people push back only a little.

So to protect a foundation of society, the people of California overwhelmingly vote a law that defines marriage -- an appropriate state's rights issue.  The left goes to court and has California's decision overturned.  The people next pass a state constitutional amendment, and again the left gets it overturned, and now it is in the Supreme Court.  The left also applies public pressure through the media to brand anyone who doesn't agree as a homophobe or hater, all the while controlling the educational curriculum so only one side of the argument is taught to our children.

Eventually, progressives will get only "C" this time, which is really all they wanted for now.  But note something powerful here.  "C" becomes the new "A."  So there is never a way to back it up to the original "A."  Over time, they will win another "C" that becomes "A."

Before long we find that we are at "H" on the original A-Z scale, but "H" is now considered "A".  And so it continues.

Note the steps:

• Ask for more than you know you can achieve.  In fact, ask for something you don't even want.  Then everyone will be focused more on that than on your real goal.
• Use all media and educational tools to inculcate your view in the public and low-information voters.
  
• Develop your own lexicon, redefine words, and then keep pounding those words into the psyche each time you speak.
  
• Attack your opponents not on logic or facts, but by name-calling and emotion, and accuse them of being "obstructionist."
• When you concede, always be sure you've moved the marker a little farther toward your goal.
• Reset the measures so that the new position is now considered "normal," which makes it impossible for anyone to argue against or reverse.
• Never, ever give up or stop pushing, even when you (temporarily) lose.

How does this strategy apply to the gun issue?  At this time, the left does not expect to restrict the sale of "assault weapons."  That effort is a deliberate misdirection to throw us off-base so we are jousting with the wrong target and using up energy.

What the left wants is universal background checks.  If leftists get that, they actually leapfrog the restrictions on certain weapon types.  How?

No one can buy a modern operational firearm from a licensed dealer today without a background check.  Period.  There is no "gun show loophole," because to buy a gun at a gun show from a licensed dealer -- the only entity permitted to sell at gun shows -- one must pass the background check or show a firearms license.

Not controlled are sales of guns between private parties.  You can sell me your gun in a face-to-face transaction without requiring that you get a background check on me.

Look at where this is going.  The left is asking to ban the sale of "assault" weapons.  Using the marriage example above, this is moving the marker from "A" to about "N" on the scale, since "Z" would be the total ban and confiscation of guns.  The left knows that a ban is not possible, although "Z" is their ultimate goal.  But what are they doing?

Ask for "N" when you know that "C" is possible, use the media and lexicon ("assault weapon," "gun show loophole") to pound home the message, demonize those who disagree, and get media support.  Use emotion -- see Obama's recent "shame on us" speech with the Newtown families standing behind him. 

And then, the final, sneaky step.  Say, "Well, the American people just don't understand the need to ban these assault weapons, so at least give us background check legislation.  That is not too much to ask for the children's sake."  And if we don't agree to that, they call us "obstructionist" and other names, trying to shame us into action.  If they succeed, we will have just moved from "A" to "S" on the scale, well past "N."  How?

Enforcing the universal background check will require registration of all guns in a national database; otherwise, how and where do we prevent private sales without background checks?  And the details of how to enforce the background checks will be handled by the legislation, neatly out of the direct view of the public.  Once that occurs, the government will have a list of all legal guns and owners in the U.S., making confiscation extremely easy when the time comes.

And where are the teeth to make a gun owner register a gun, when he never expects to sell it?  All the left needs to do is make possession of an unregistered gun a felony -- a "minor" clause in the law when they craft it.  Then, when you defend yourself at 3 a.m. from an armed home invasion and your gun is found, you will be in more trouble than the perps.  As a felon, you then lose your right to own any guns.  

That is the goal here.  Watch for the left to cave on the assault weapon ban and "settle" for just universal background checks.  Sounds innocuous, right?  If granted, it will provide the left with much, much more than they ever hoped to get at this juncture. 

Our answer must be: "Never, never, never -- not one inch."  No universal background checks, ever.  Enforce the laws we have now.  Otherwise, game over for us.