The notion that gun control was responsible for the Democrats' debacle 15 years ago was floated by Richard Gephardt, the former Democratic House  leader, and other pols and commentators after the '94 election. But it was Bill Clinton who gave it current credence. ''The N.R.A. could rightly claim to have made Gingrich the House speaker,'' Mr. Clinton wrote in his 2004 autobiography, pumping up the gun lobby and, not incidentally, himself by attributing the body blow to his party to his principled leadership on guns.
