Gun rights still trumping gun controls in politics

Yet less than 48 hours after nine people were shot to death in a South Carolina church, the nation's political leaders, from President Barack Obama to those Republicans who seek to replace him, as well as those in Congress, either did not call for a closer look at gun violence in America or said they didn't see one coming soon.

Courting evangelical voters in Washington, a succession of Republican presidential hopefuls stood to express their horror at Wednesday's attack, yet none suggested gun control be addressed.

Conservative favorite Ben Carson, the only African-American candidate in the field, addressed racial tensions, not gun laws: "If we don't pay close attention to the hatred and division that's going on in our nation, this is just a harbinger of what we can expect."

The response from across the political spectrum illustrates the profound lack of attention gun control has garnered so far in a 2016 campaign that offers sharp differences between the political parties.

Obama pointed to lax gun controls in his response but glumly acknowledged there was no way he could prod Congress to take action on gun violence.

While a large majority of Americans have consistently supported universal background checks for gun owners, a Gallup poll conducted in January found only 31 percent of Americans are dissatisfied with current gun laws and want to make them stricter.