I think that this was actually a pretty big victory for gun owners (though, as in every battlefield victory, there are casualities). Why?
It is interesting to note that only 8 traitors voted for the final bill. More interesting is who among the other traitors in the Senate did NOT vote for it: Feinstein, Schumer and Kerry. Gee, let's see: the authors of the AWB amendment to this bill, which was attached to the legislation, still didn't vote for it. Neither did the obvious Presidential candidate for the Thundering Herd of Jackasses, despite having voted for not only the AWB provision, but also McStain's gun-show-killing amendment. If these people had REALLY wanted these provisions in the law, they and their fellow travelers would have voted for it. The fact that they didn't says that they attached all of these amendments for one reason - to kill the underlying legislation. They want to kill the firearms industry, by hook or by crook, so desperately that they are willing to even sacrifice a gun ban for it. This says to me that they must think that they are losing, that this one tactic (death by lawsuit) is the only one that will allow them to win. That analysis makes me feel very much better than I felt yesterday morning, after the AWB and the gunshow provisions got attached. Now it not only appears that the AWB is on the way out, but the antis have revealed their true feelings - that they are scared.
Make no mistake - the AWB IS on the way out. If the NRA and other gun groups (including lots of groups of 1, like all of us that called our reps multiple times) could sacrifice a great pro-gun bill to stop the AWB renewal, then a stand-alone AWB isn't going to pass. There won't be any more pro-gun legislation to attach a renewal to, so it will die (of course, we can always be back-stabbed - yet again - so we must ALL be vigilant).
The antis, especially Fat Ted (Drunken Murderer, MA), have revealed themselves to the whole (gun-owning) world for who they are. Those of our fellow gun owners who are not so politically astute (or who just didn't give a damn about ugly rifles), will now be able to be bludgeoned by the rest of us with the club of (at least) Kennedy's centerfire rifle ban. Any shotgunner you see at a gunshow who sneers as he passes the table full of AR-15 clones can now be told that the same folks who hate ugly rifles wanted him to stay home and not be able to look at $2,000+ double-barreled English dove guns. The real RINOs on the gun issue have also been smoked out - geez, Richard Lugar!! Gregg Judd!! These guys shouldn't be taking another oath of office.
Regarding the failure of the underlying bill: Look, I don't like these absurd suits any more than anyone else. I, like every other gun owner, pay more for guns and ammo because of the potential for (or reality of) baseless lawsuits. The judges are clearly NOT doing their jobs. But there have been no awards that have stuck on appeal. There will be none, because the moment a gun manufacturer is found liable for the criminal actions of someone not under their control, 10,000 lawyers are going to sue GM, Ford and every other car company for selling cars to drunk drivers. It won't - it CAN'T - happen, because if it does the economy goes down the crapper as commerce grinds to a halt. Thus, until a clean liability law IS passed (how about next year, after another 2-4 Senate Dems get promotions to the private sector), the only real cost will be the litigation cost. That's not nothing, and I certainly am not attempting to minimize it, but it is bearable for another year or so.
The real victory is this: if no more gun-related legislation gets passed this year, as now seems fairly likely, then that is great for gun owners. You see, for the first time in history a federal law restricting the rights of gun owners will have been taken off of the books. When, after another year or two, it is shown that there hasn't been a militia uprising, the murder of 10,000 cops or little kids or some such nonsense, then the overblown scaremongering tactics of the antis will be apparent to all (or at least those on the fence, who are the only ones that really matter, politically). This will greatly discredit the antis, and make it far more difficult for them to pass new legislation in the future. Being able to buy magazines for reasonable prices will be nice also. The added bucks in everyone's gun budget will mean more to spend on time at the range, honing those skills that seem to require Feinswine to regularly buy new underwear. :>)
Correction: ...Kennedy's centerfire rifle AMMO ban...