I've heard about that reading letters to the editor type things in the various English online papers I've read.

Coddling the criminals while cracking down on the people trying to defend themselves. That couldn't get much more wrong. That probably has more to do with it than any gun law does. They've made the law abiding person more scared to protect themselves than the criminal is to attack them.
Of course it seems the two go hand in hand. Politicians don't want to take the hard road and go after criminals because they won't listen and provide results. So instead they focus on those who will listen and follow, that looks much better come election time.