Then there is Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.). According to one Democratic automated poll, Flake is now one of the least popular senators in the country. Other senators will also need help.

The landscape of the battle over gun laws is changing, in a way that makes the NRA’s task more difficult than it used to be. The gun control movement now includes new players who have vowed to press ahead in the face of defeat and return to the debate enlightened by its failure last month to pass new restrictions.

Former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and her husband Mark Kelly started one such group. The declared goal of the enterprise is to “balance the influence of the gun lobby. Meanwhile, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I) and his deep pockets are not going anywhere.

But time maybe on the side of the NRA. Ayotte and Flake don’t face reelection until 2016 and 2018, respectively. The anger against them on the issue of guns may have faded by then.