push away lots of potential voters who are more moderate. Crime, especially violent crime, is on the rise, and the perception that democrats are soft on crime with catch-and-release tactics and being anti-police do not sit well with moderates (I know lots of them who explicitly tell me this).

As for gun laws, should people be swayed by a single issue such as "democratic gun laws" when there are many other important issues at stake? Probably not, but there are plenty of liberal gun owners who voted for Biden thinking he wouldn't try to go after non-sensical issues like pistol braces, but it's somehow an issue again. And these stupid gun laws just give fuel to conservatives, and they're not even wrong on this issue, because these gun laws don't have any real effect on violent crime and only affect law-abiding gun owners.

I think the abortion issues in Texas actually works in the dems' favor because it gives something for them to rally around.