After the Boston Marathon bombing, days of armed terrorists on the loose in the Boston area, and a door-to-door search for a terror suspect that ended in gun fire on the night of April 19, gun control will be an even tougher sell to the American people next time around.

And there will be a next time, as Senate Democrats made clear when the votes didn’t go their way on April 17.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) tabled the legislation in order to keep it at the ready so procedural hurdles can be skipped and it can brought up directly for a vote in the future. “It’s only a matter time before we bring this anti-gun-violence measure back to the floor for a vote,” Reid said. “The stand of the Republicans is not sustainable.”

The problem Reid and other Democrats face is that we are no longer living only with the tragic memory of the heinous crime at Sandy Hook Elementary, but now with the reality of the cold, calculated terror attack on the Boston Marathon. Massachusetts residents who sat huddled in their homes when Boston was on lock-down were reminded that they were their own first line of defense if the terrorist came to their door.

And the rest of the country was reminded of the importance of having a gun for self-defense as well–as news coverage of Boston’s struggle filled television screens across the nation.