Gun culture is a really interesting animal. I've been to a few gun shows and the whole thing ranges from hunters, survivalists, collectors, zombies (really), and then of course self-defense. Now I don't think the people who are going to gun shows are the same people who shoot each other, but I do think they play an important role in creating the culture around guns. However, I do think that these are the owners of the majority of guns sold, because there is so much importance placed on having a collection (or an arsenal, depending on which breed of gun owner your talking to). Many of these people see themselves in the way that the article mentions, the good guy, who is either protecting their home or family and they all hope they can stop a major shooting at some point. They may not go on a major shooting, but they do play a big role in increasing the amount of guns in circulation. Like many laws I think gun control is misinterpreted as being against the typical NRA member. While it may will affect them (thus their protest) the law is targeted at reducing guns used for illicit purposes.
I hadn't really considered the gun collectors, but yeah you're right. Personally, I like Chris Rock's idea for gun control. Who says that guns have to be affordable? If the government can tax smokers, why not tax gun owners? There are many more opportunities to tax gun owners as guns require regular maintenance and people buy accessories for them like different scopes, triggers, types of bullets, gun oil, etc. This might not address the guns in circulation currently, but it would certainly cause people looking to buy a gun through legal channels to consider whether or not they can live without owning one.
Its an interesting idea, but the people going out and buying a whole bunch of accessories for their guns aren't the ones that being targeted by the law and most of them right-wing anti-tax as they come so there is an even slimmer chance of anything laws passing. At the end of the day I think somebody is going to have to bit the bullet and push a gun law through and let the results speak for themselves, because I don't think that talking or debating about it more is going to give us a better law.