We know what gun grabbers want. It’s why we call them gun grabbers, for crying out loud. They might talk about “common sense legislation” and “gun safety” and things like that, but anyone with half a brain knows that this is just the start. Over and over again, they’ll keep finding reasons to nip away more and more at our sacred right to keep and bear arms until there’s nothing left.

That’s their endgame, and everyone knows it.

However, they’ve been losing ground left and right and are desperate to turn the tide. That’s why they’re trying something new.

Five years after a gunman killed 20 children and six adults at a Connecticut elementary school, advocates who are disappointed with the failure of efforts to limit access to firearms are changing their strategy.

Instead of pressuring lawmakers to push new gun-control measures through the U.S. Congress, volunteers from groups including Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America are now running for office themselves.

Nine of 13 volunteers trained by the group ran for office this year and won seats, ranging from New Hampshire state representative to city council member in West University Place, Texas. Fourteen more have already declared their intentions to run for office in 2018, seeking seats in Congress, state legislatures and local government, all running as Democrats.

“The reality is that the work doesn’t really start in Congress. That’s where it ends,” said Moms Demand Action founder Shannon Watts, who launched her group the day after the Dec. 14, 2012, massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

And none of it matters.

You see, what Reuters failed to mention is whether any of these candidates unseated pro-gun incumbents. While the city council member in Texas might have, it’s irrelevant. Texas has preemption laws on the books, meaning an anti-gun city council member will get precisely nothing accomplished on the issue of guns.

As for the others, I’d be very surprised to find that Moms Demand Action members made that big of a splash. I seriously would be.

After all, they’ve been flailing away to change the culture of this country for several years now and making no headway. You don’t get elected as an anti-gun candidate unless you also have an anti-gun constituency, as a general rule. Even Doug Jones, who defeated Roy Moore in Alabama, had to say the right things regarding guns to even have a shot.

Todd asked Jones a series of questions in the 7-minute long interview, televised nationally. On gun rights , Jones said he is “a Second Amendment guy.”

“We’ve got limitations on all constitutional amendments in one form or another,” Jones said.  “I want to enforce the laws that we have right now. The biggest issue, I think, that’s facing the Second Amendment right now is that we need to make sure we shore up the National Crime Information System, the NCIC system for background checks, to both keep guns out of the hands of criminals, but at the same time, cut down on error so that law-abiding citizens can get those.”

Jones said he loves to hunt and has a case full of his own guns, but wants to make sure regulations are “smart.”

Jones was able to win because, in part, he didn’t take an anti-gun stance. He probably knew that going full bore anti-gun was a losing prospect in Alabama. Guns are a major part of their culture in the state, just like in most of the rest of the South.

But Moms Demand Action candidates are probably not likely to take that road. They’re going to be loudly anti-gun, and from a strategic standpoint, that’s fine if they’re in an anti-gun district. If not…

While we may see some of these candidates in Congress someday, make no mistake. The results will be the exact same as they are now. They’ve failed to convince people that guns are the problem, so now they’re going to try and force the issue. The problem is that without voters who agree, they’ll never get the chance.

Thankfully.