In truth, I’m only asking the New Establishment to put assault rifles out of business, while still making weapons hunters and home defenders use without bothering anyone. But, beneath the admittedly far-fetched notion that Bloomberg CEO and gun-control activist Michael Bloomberg might spend his billions on something more practical than a few congressmen, there’s a more sophisticated point about money, power, and the nation’s ability to create change if it chooses to do so.

Put simply, the gun industry is a financial pipsqueak, and the assault-weapon business its 98-pound weakling. Sturm Ruger’s market cap is $1.08 billion. Remington has $900 million in junk-rated debt and generated a $48 million cash-flow loss in the first quarter of this year, validating Moody’s Investor Services assessment that it’s “speculative, of poor standing, and deeply subject to credit risk.” Smith & Wesson is worth $1.14 billion. Colt Defense is in Chapter 11.

Buy ’em all, and you’ve got plenty left over from LinkedIn’s jackpot to buy growth companies like athenahealth Inc. ATHN, -0.89% Fitbit FIT, +0.94% , or a bunch of biotech startups that may actually save lives.