A little more than three weeks ago, before the Democratic campaign rhetoric devolved into Jere miah Wright redux, Sen. Barack Obama's comments about the gun habits of "bitter" people opened him up to criticism from both Republican presumptive nominee John McCain and Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.

They branded Obama an elitist, out of touch with the American heartland, because he had said some people in more rural areas "cling to guns or religion or antipa thy to people who aren't like them."

But whatever one might think of Obama's critique of religious conservatism or anti-immigrant at titudes, the gun issue is less about elitism or "culture wars" than a crucial struggle that affects ordinary citizens across the nation, particularly in urban areas.

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