It's not the gun industry that's powerful financially, or more important, electorally, which I'll note is represented by the National Shooting Sports Foundation

It's not the gun industry that's powerful financially, or more important, electorally, which I'll note is represented by the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), it's the population of gun owners, only a fraction of which belong to the NRA at any one time, that have achieved this result. Money's important, but you can ask the most recent stark example, Jeb Bush, just how far it gets you without votes. And I'll add that only happened after there was a sufficient trail of dead or maimed bodies, enough atrocities committed by the BATFE starting in the early '70s (new law + sugar price supports putting their "revenuers" out of a job when moonshine became a hobby), that we got riled up enough to achieve this. As of yet, our lack of data privacy hasn't produced enough of these.