I also wish there could be a good way of quantifying the "will" of the masses. I think that the majority of Americans, if asked, would lightly be for more Gun Control, merely because they are uninformed, and not shooters. However, I think (know) there is a sizable minority of Americans who feel very strongly against Gun Control.
If you imagine numbers as breadth of people (number of people) and strength of feeling as depth, then who has the greater area? I think people who are against gun control. If the "will of the people" means the complete area of the people's will, how many people think what weighted by how strongly they feel it, then I think the firearm community wins hands down. I further think that is our strength, that many are one-issue voters, and can thus swing the election, where others are concerned enough about tax relief, don't care about guns much either way, and vote for guns along with tax relief.
Maybe that's just my take though. To me, doesn't matter what the majority wants or says, it matters what is right.