Memo to Gun Lobby: You Won. So Tone It Down, OK? – The 2008 election of Barack Obama was a boon to gunmakers. Now the gun lobby, gathered at the National Rifle Association’s convention in St. Louis today, is using the prospect of his re-election to again stoke fear — which may be good for the industry’s bottom line but not for the country.  Relevant figures for gun sales are hard to come by, but excise tax receipts on firearms rose 45 percent in 2009. There were manufacturing backlogs and soaring profits. Reasons for this so-called Obama bubble are speculative, but it’s fair to say that it was driven at least in part by unease among some gun owners and enthusiasts about the prospect of more gun-control legislation.