“As uber-political statistician Nate Silver pointed out this week, gun ownership is now the most powerful American predictor of party affiliation, exceeding gender, sexual orientation and even weekly church attendance. Only about a quarter of Democrats are likely to have a firearm in their home, as opposed to 60 percent of Republicans. Gun-owners, moreover, have been buoyed by the Supreme Court’s recent break with more than 200 years of constitutional jurisprudence and sudden declaration that the Second Amendment confers an individual right to bear arms rather than granting it to militias. It was a novel ruling, but for better or worse it is now the law of the land. Its writ is reinforced by gun enthusiasts’ collective tendency to be single-issue voters. Few gun control advocates or their sympathizers are likely to cast a ballot solely because of a candidate’s stand on this issue; Second Amendment absolutists repeatedly have. That makes them powerful.” – Tim Rutten [via pasadenastarnews.com]