After a stream of Second Amendment victories across the country in recent years, the tide may be turning as gun control politicians find alternative ways to push through new laws.

Recent high-profile mass shootings have given the gun control movement momentum. After the Islamic terrorist attack in San Bernardino on December 2, President Obama pounced on the opportunity to announce he would be proposing measures soon. Having failed to get Congress to pass any legislation after the Sandy Hook shootings in 2012, he has turned to unilateral executive actions instead. No major federal gun laws have been able to make it through Congress since the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban, which was allowed to expire in 2004, arguably due to its lack of effectiveness.

On Tuesday, the president announced four new executive actions he is taking to control the sale of guns. (Here’s an explanation of executive actions.)

One will require background checks for all private party firearm sales, expanding them beyond purchases from federally-licensed dealers. Another will pour millions of dollars into the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms for investigating firearm sales and enforcing existing laws. The third will prohibit more people with mental health issues from obtaining a firearm. Finally, the government will sponsor research on “smart gun technology,” which for example would put biometric readers on guns to keep the wrong person from firing them. This could eventually be required on every firearm, with the capability of remotely disabling them.

Obama has previously suggested he would enact more restrictions on assault weapons and ban people on the no-fly list from obtaining firearms.

Other Gun Gontrollers

The president isn’t the only one calling for more gun control. The GOP’s $1.8 trillion end-of-the-year spending bill and tax package included increased funding for the National Instant Criminal Background Check System and the ATF, as well as eliminating a provision to sell surplus military guns.

New gun control regulations are popping up all around the country.

Democratic Governor Dannel P. Malloy of Connecticut announced on December 10 that he is banning the sale of guns to those on the federal terrorism watch list. And last month, a judge upheld Seattle’s “gun violence tax,” which adds $25 to the price of each firearm sold in the city, plus 2 or 5 cents per round of ammunition, depending on the type. The Second Amendment Foundation said it will be filing an appeal, saying state law puts the regulation of firearms under the purview of the state legislature, not local governments. The judge said the regulation fell within the city’s taxing authority. (Chicago’s Cook County already has a similar tax.)

Also last month, Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring, a Democrat, announced that Virginia would no longer recognize concealed carry permits from most states except five that have equally strict requirements. The state currently has reciprocity agreements with 25 other states. In October, Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, also a Democrat, banned firearms in state buildings.

What is notable about these latter two actions is they are occurring in swing states, not firmly blue states. Most gun control laws enacted in recent years have taken place in blue states like New York and California.

Gun control efforts have also ramped up on the advocacy side, thanks to billionaires like former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg funding the efforts. The National Basketball Association teamed up with Bloomberg’s group, Everytown for Gun Safety, to run gun control advertisements on TV featuring several famous players during Christmas day games.

Politicians are enacting these new regulations despite some polling data suggesting a majority of Americans oppose the use of executive actions to implement gun control. While polling data also suggests a majority still say they approve of more gun control laws, a majority also say they no longer approve of a ban on assault weapons. That is down from a peak of 80 percent who supported a ban in 1990. Now, only 45 percent support a ban and 53 percent oppose it.

More Gun Control, And More Guns

While the San Bernardino shootings seemed to have emboldened many politicians to push for more gun control, it had the opposite effect on many Americans, with people scrambling to buy guns in case of future terrorist attacks. On Black Friday, the FBI processed 185,345 instant background checks for gun purchases, the most ever in a single day.

People also have responded to Obama’s efforts by buying more guns, a New York Times article suggests. “More guns were sold in December than almost any other month in nearly two decades,” the newspaper reported, quoting a financial analyst who said the president has been “the best salesman for firearms.”

In 2013, proposals in New Jersey and Maryland to expand gun control appear to have had the same effect, as did the confiscation by police of legal firearms in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.