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During an event in Nevada, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton addressed the church shooting in Charleston, S.C., and gun control. (United States Conference of Mayors)

In her standard stump speech, Hillary Rodham Clinton talks about fighting income inequality, celebrating court rulings on gay marriage and health care, and, since the Emanuel AME Church massacre, toughening the nations gun laws.

That last component marks an important evolution in presidential politics. For at least the past several decades, Democrats seeking national office have often been timid on the issue of guns for fear of alienating firearms owners. In 2008, after Barack Obama took heat for his gaffe about people who cling to guns or religion, he rarely mentioned guns again neither that year nor in his 2012 reelection campaign.

But in a sign that the political environment on guns has shifted in the wake of recent mass shootings and of Clintons determination to stake out liberal ground in her primary race against insurgent Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) Clinton is not only initiating a debate about gun control but also vowing to fight the National Rifle Association.

Im going to speak out against the uncontrollable use of guns in our country because I believe we can do better, Clinton said Tuesday in Iowa City.

A few days earlier, she said in Hanover, N.H.: We have to take on the gun lobby. ... This is a controversial issue. I am well aware of that. But I think it is the height of irresponsibility not to talk about it.

Clintons comments could stoke millions of politically active gun owners, and Wayne LaPierre, the NRAs executive vice president, argued that the move was fraught with peril for her.

Weve been down this road before with the Clintons, LaPierre said through a spokesman. She needs to read her husbands book.

In his memoir, My Life, former president Bill Clinton suggested that his vice president, Al Gore, lost the 2000 presidential election in part because of backlash in states such as Arkansas and Tennessee over the Clinton administrations 1995 ban on assault weapons, which has since expired. Many Democratic lawmakers also lost their elections after gun-control votes.

The Republican 2016 presidential candidates, in keeping with GOP orthodoxy, have spoken out loudly against gun control. Many gave speeches at the NRAs spring convention and tout their high ratings from the group.

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Hillary Clintons push on gun control marks a shift in ...