Brainwashing.
The gun haters have a belief system formed on the foundation of anti-gun misrepresented statistics and erroneous conclusions. Empirical data disagrees with the anti-gunner conclusions -- that fewer gun owners equals fewer gun deaths. Their appeal is 100% emotional (if we can just prevent one child's death!).
In the 70's and 80's, there were a series of TV "specials" about the risks of having a gun in the house. They used a few cases of people with no training or common sense shooting a family member in the dark or through a door. Had there been no guns in the house ... different outcome. Not once did they contrast that number of similar events to the number of people who prevented theirs or someone else's potential death through use of a gun.
Back then, the push was to rid the nation of handguns, since the vast majority of gun deaths involved those types. It became apparent they could never get Congress to ban handguns, since so many rely on them for self protection. That's when they changed targets to AR-15 style rifles. The AR is the most commonly owned rifle in the US, and it became the best chance for removing the most guns from households next to handguns.
People have a fear of guns because they associate guns with the death and destruction seen in movies, on TV, and in the news. You rarely see the POSITIVE stories about the approximately 200,000 people defended by a gun each year. All you see (non-stop) are the NEGATIVE stories of school and mall shootings.
Since most people are no longer dependent on firearms for protection from animals and to put food on the table, they often see ownership as more of a hassle than benefit. Those same people think whatever is good for them is what's best for all.
Brainwashing. Decades of misinformation, demonization, and fear-mongering.
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