Comedy Centrals’ highly-touted Jordan Klepper Solves Guns aired yesterday. As of this writing, though, guns remain “unsolved.” (Click here to sign in with your cable provider to watch the full special.)
While firearms trainer Pat MacNamara wasn’t particularly pleased with the program, Mr. Klepper has got to be thrilled with all the attention. Before the video dropped, The Boston Globe did their bit to help the hype, publishing Mr. Klepper’s editorial Bringing a stat to the gun debate.
The sweet stat came courtesy of a group called Americans for Responsible Solutions. They were tracking the efficacy of campaign ads run over the course of a three week period last fall in New Hampshire. They found that amidst a dead-heat senate race in which guns were a hotly debated topic, “the number of voters who know that 9 out of 10 people in New Hampshire support background checks increased from 9 percent to 21 percent.”
Color me confused. Why in the world would Mr. Klepper cite the rabidly pro-civilian disarmament group Americans for Final Responsible Solutions in his effort to find “common ground” on gun control?
And why is the anti-gun rights comedian heartened by the fact that 21 percent “know” that 90 percent of New Hampshire residents support background checks? Does he mean universal background checks, which require all sales and transfers (including temporary transfers between friends and family)?
He does! And does he know that many, if not most of those 90 percent don’t know what they’re supporting? He does not! Or he does and doesn’t care.
Turns out when it comes to basic, common-sense gun regulations, Americans pretty much agree, and are completely oblivious to that agreement . . .
The good news here is that it’s surprisingly easy to find common ground. What’s hard, in this moment of constantly hearing how “divided” we are, is realizing that that ground is something we’re already standing on top of.
That use of the casually misleading description of civilian disarmament — “common-sense gun regulations” — is something up with which The People of the Gun will not put. Nor should they stand for the usual statistical cherry-picking on display in Mr. Klepper’s polemic. It gets worse . . .
… it’s not just background checks: The majority of Americans support waiting periods, closing the gun show loophole, and creating a federal database to track gun sales. This is good news for those shocked by our country’s inaction on combatting gun violence. The last time I checked, if you’ve got a majority, you’ve got yourself a winning hand (as long as you campaign in Michigan).
Wait. What? Where’s the sweet stat proving that most Americans support waiting periods or a federal database to track gun sales (which happens to be illegal under current law)? Anyway, Mr. Klepper’s opinion piece soon descends into the anti-gun owner condescension that elevated him from comic to statist social commentator.
A gun is not just a gun. It’s a symbol. It’s like that old smelly sweatshirt you’ve had since JV tennis. Your wife thinks you should throw it out, it’s a health hazard and it makes you look like “an emaciated Judge Reinhold.” But you’re not actually talking about the sweatshirt. You’re talking about maintaining your sense of masculinity and your connection to a valued past. How else will you remember that junior year make-out session in the JC Penney parking lot? The sweatshirt is a gun and it could ruin your marriage. I’m lost in this metaphor. The point is, talking about guns can be confusing. But it doesn’t always have to be.
Agreed! Mr. Klepper is lost in his own left-leaning elitism. And the conversation about guns is simple enough. “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” Discuss.
Last I checked, knowledge is still legal in this country, and we should really take advantage of it. There is a silent majority in America, speaking at appropriate decibel levels. But when America is faced with a path toward common sense gun reform, I hope we remember our voices. You are not alone. There’s a united chorus of rationality standing behind you. We are the nine in ten.
Even if American gun owners represented just 10 percent of the population, they’d still have a natural, civil and constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms without the infringement of background checks. No joke.