It seems in most cases, the difference boils down to over-active legislature, intrusive government at every level, more socialism, and over-reaction by law enforcement due to one-in-a-million precedents. If legislators back off from micromanaging people's personal lives, the public good will be better served.
At the risk of sounding sexist, I have been having recurrent doubts about the wisdom of suffrage. It seems to correlate with societal pussification and its far-reaching consequences.
I agree with CAnnoneer. I think women's suffrage is a big part of the problem. The electorate has demanded more security and safety, at the expense of liberty and opportunity, ever since women began to vote. Is it any surprise that we now find our great free nation reduced to a decidedly unfree nannystate?
I happen to know a lot of women in the military and LEO. As well as election supervision. There's an old expression I used often back in the Army, when someone suggested something glaringly stupid. "You know, there ARE easier ways of committing suicide." Attempting to remove suffrage from a very populous ground of voters and gun owners/operators is not a very bright idea.
I'm trying to imagine how THAT conversation would go. "Ok, ladies, you're being stripped of your right to vote. ... Hey, put down the M16!" On second thoughts, they'd probably just use bayonets.