Yes the democrats beleive in gun control... they ultimately fail at expressing their beleifs and instead make guns less safe and controlled not more.
No this has nothing to do with a state-by-state patchwork, this law is at the federal level and a perfect example why democrats should loose their privilages when it comes to defining gun laws.
The republicans didnt make this law, what they beleive is irrelevant other than as a distraction to the point, which is that democrats are loony tunes and dont even rub their two brain cells together when coming up with legislation.
There is no choice here to be had, The democrats have literally made the gun issue worse, doing nothing would have been better than this.