Whether or not there was widespread popular demand for gun control during the Prohibition area is something I can't speak to, but there was strong political will at the time to reign in gun violence. This manifested into the National Firearms Act (NFA) of 1934, which sought to impose restrictions and obstacles to the ownership of certain types of firearms. The NFA is probably the greatest act of gun control at the federal level in United States history (you might be able to argue Clinton's assault weapons ban was greater). The NFA mandated the registration and taxation of guns seen as unnecessarily dangerous for civilians (like "tommy guns). It created machine guns, destructive devices, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, and any-other-weapons as classes of firearms that were deemed too dangerous based on their physical specifications (mostly length). All of these restrictions targeted aspects that supposedly made weapons more useful for gangsters. For example, shorter rifles and shotguns are easier to conceal and machine guns can shoot more bullets that semi-automatic weapons, which supposedly made these types of weapons more dangerous than weapons that were longer in length and could shoot less rapidly. This is just one example of gun control at the federal level and maybe someone else can give you an answer about state or local laws.