By Thomas Ferraro and Richard Cowan

WASHINGTON, April 18 (Reuters) - The massacre at Virginia Tech has ignited fresh talk in the new Democratic-led U.S. Congress to tighten America's gun laws but it is doubtful enough lawmakers will tackle the politically charged issue.

With so many Americans in love with their guns and defensive of their right under the U.S. Constitution to keep and bear arms, politicians are reluctant to take on gun owners or the powerful gun lobby.

"It'd be foolish politically for Democrats to do it," said Larry Sabato, a political science professor at the University of Virginia. "There's little chance of anything meaningful."

Guns are a deep part of the often-violent U.S. culture. Americans are among the world's most heavily armed people, and the country has among the highest murder rates.

There are an estimated 250 million privately owned guns in the United States, which has a population of about 300 million. About 30,000 people a year die from gun wounds, about evenly split between murders and suicides.

Polls show Americans favor tougher gun laws. But gun-rights groups have helped stop such action by rallying their members, many of them hunters, against it.

Larry Pratt of Gun Owners of America said the shootings that left 33 people dead, including the assailant, at Virginia Tech on Monday showed gun bans are the problem, not the solution.

"Isn't it interesting that Utah and Oregon are the only two states that allow faculty to carry guns. And isn't it interesting that you haven't read about any school or university shootings in Utah and Oregon," Pratt said.

Gun lobbies have helped defeat Democratic candidates pushing gun control. In 1994, after a Democratic Congress imposed a ban on assault weapons, Republicans won control of the legislature, capturing the House of Representatives for the first time in 40 years. As a result, many Democrats have backed off in recent years.

STRICTER LAWS NOT PROMISED

Democrats regained control of Congress in last year's elections with many campaign promises but none were for stricter gun laws. Some Democrats even ran on a gun-rights platform.

Regardless, shortly after shots rang out at Virginia Tech, Democratic gun-control advocates called for action.

"I believe this will reignite the dormant effort to pass common-sense gun regulations," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat.

Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, a New York Democrat, said, "The unfortunate situation in Virginia could have been avoided if congressional leaders stood up to the gun lobby."

A number of gun-control bills have been offered in this Congress but none have gotten very far. They include measures to expand background checks, reduce the number of bullets allowed in an ammunition clip and reinstate the assault weapons ban that expired in 2004.

"I'm skeptical," said Rep. Marion Berry, a moderate Arkansas Democrat. Liberal Connecticut Democrat Rep. Rosa DeLauro said: "I suspect there isn't much appetite" for it.

Paul Helmke of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence voiced hope, however, that the Virginia Tech tragedy would force lawmakers to answer tough questions and take tough action.

Helmke said, "People are again asking: 'What are we doing about gun violence? Why is it so easy to get a weapon? Why does this keep happening in our country?'"

But Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid said, "I hope there's not a rush to do anything. We need to take a deep breath."

(Additional reporting by Donna Smith)

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