One of the biggest applause lines from last week’s Democratic debate was Martin O’Malley’s cocksure, focused description of the National Rifle Association as the enemy he’s most proud to have made. Moments later, Hillary Clinton seconded the notion, though she went on to include — among other things, and in the same tones — the Iranians and the Republican Party. But, as if to make the point even clearer over the weekend, Clinton echoed President Obama’s recent allusion to Australia’s draconian licensing and buy-back policy as a model for the United States to emulate.

It’s increasingly apparent that the Democrats plan to make the abrogation of gun rights a major part of their 2016 platform. This may not be quite as bad politics as it sounds: a recent Pew Survey found that support for gun rights has waned from its high last year, and that was before the latest cluster of shootings, including that of the Virginia news crew and at Umpqua Community College. According to the same survey, gun control remains wildly popular among Democrats. The good news is that the overall numbers are still near historic highs in favor of rights, with the country nearly evenly split on the matter.

However, two things are concerning. First, we are — as Charles C.W. Cooke darkly suggests — likely not too far off from the first HD, livestreamed mass murder. Imagine the effect a Newtown-style massacre would have next fall if its horror was uploaded (unedited) to YouTube in 1080p. Second, imagine what a legacy-hunting Obama and a desperate Hillary Clinton might do with that, especially when Wayne LaPierre inevitably makes an idiot of himself and blames video games and calls for armed guards in every school.