Because "physical safety regulations" is something that the majority understands, so it's hard to argue against that in public. With digital security, most people lack the mental models to follow the discussion, so it's really easy for lobbyists to tell them flatout lies about how those damn dems are out to take their smart lightbulbs away from them.

I explicitly formulated very carefully that this is not an issue of "people are dumb", but an issue of lack of understanding. I wish I could downvote your strawman.

Are you claiming that most people do understand computer security? My experience is that even many computer-savvy people (already a small fraction of overall population) are completely baffled by its intricacies.