Because words matter, perhaps those of us who seek responsible gun legislation need to reframe the discussion. The word "control" has negative connotations, and it allows for the National Rifle Association and others to misrepresent what many Americans desire; which is for government to protect the rights of private citizens while providing common sense regulation to preserve the public good.
When automakers and toy manufacturers are regulated by specific standards for the products they produce, we don't call it auto control and toy control. When the FDA sets and enforces standards, nobody accuses them of food control or medicine control. When our water and air quality is regulated, we don't claim that it's water control and air control. And when the FCC regulates interstate and international communications, it's not referred to as speech control or media control.
The only issue that I can think of where government regulation is described as control is the issue of regulating firearms. And I'm sure that the N.R.A. likes it that way. I don't when the word control was first inserted into the discussion of gun regulation, but by using the word it allows for the false and negative portrayal of advocates who desire sensible gun regulations as seeking to control guns and to abolish the Second Amendment, which then allows for the inaccurate portrayal of the N.R.A as defenders of Second Amendment rights.
It's time to change the debate by losing control and calling for common sense gun regulation.