I'm going to need you to tell me how political correctness is involved in this discussion.
Maybe "political correctness" wasn't the correct term, I would have used "public opinion" or "public acceptance". Here's my explanation, and I'll offer examples outside of alcohol afterwards.
Prior to the current law public opinion was along the lines of "I noticed you were drinking at the BBQ, are you good to drive? o.k. get home safely" after the enactment of the current law it changed; "I noticed you had three beers at the BBQ, are you good to drive? o.k. call me when you get home safely". Now if this law is further tightened, it will again change public opinion; "woah, woah, woah, you had a beer at the BBQ, you shouldn't drive, I'll call you a cab".
I know I generalized there and that's because this is the internet; no I don't condone drunk driving or breaking the law.
The enactment of this law and laws like these vilify the consumption of alcohol, in the name of public safety.
So alcohol is taken care of, now back to the tobacco - the culture of tobacco had a similar progression - smoking is what everyone does, then it changed to smoking may be harmful to you, the smoker, then it changed to smoking is harmful to the user, and everyone around them, now public opinion is pretty much if you smoke you will kill yourself and everyone around you.
Again, I generalize, but the generalization is not that far off.
Lets move on to firearms (see what I did there) now the cultural acceptance of firearms went from a God given right that shall not be infringed upon and commonplace, to hunters & shooting enthusiasts, to right wing nut-jobs who want to kill children; I'm not joking that is public opinion in my state right now.
I haven't touched on the additional revenue generated by stricter regulations on these areas at all, but let me tell you, it plays a big role - Go to Connecticut and buy ammunition (if you can find any), cigarettes and beer, then go to one of the states where these items are more accepted, like New Hampshire, then look at the price difference - the places where they are more accepted they are cheaper, because the laws are less stringent and therefore the items are taxed less.
Again, I gave a view on these areas from 100 miles up, I intentionally tried not to get too specific, but the takeaway is this; PUBLIC OPINION drives the regulation of Alcohol(T&F as well), public opinion is driven by the media; and if you don't know who is in control of the media, just enjoy being part of the flock.
If you are ignorant to the fact that making something illegal vilifies the act itself then you shouldn't bother yourself with the trivial opinions of those who respectfully question authority.