It seems that the Mayors Against Illegal Guns, The Violence Policy Center, The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and our friends over at mikeb302000 continue to lose the battle for the hearts and minds of the American public. Gallup’s released their most recent poll on Americans’ attitudes towards legislative efforts to “tighten” U.S. gun laws. The verdict is clear enough: “Americans are holding firm to their record-low level of support for making gun laws stricter, with virtually no change from last year.” Unless the “kept as they are now” crowd can be frightened or mislead into supporting a change, the gun control movement is dead in the water. It would also appear that the gun rights groups are also stuck in stasis. That said . . .
Pro gun rights groups like the National Rifle Association, Second Amendment Foundation and the Gun Owners of America have a secret weapon: the Second Amendment. The recent Heller and McDonald rulings have opened the door to greater gun ownership and, thus, more protection for gun rights from gun-savvy citizens. In theory. Eventually.
Meanwhile, Heller II heads to the America’s highest court. The pro-gun community waits to hear if regulations that cause a de facto handgun ban get the same Supreme Court smack down as an actual gun ban. Although the Court is swayed by law rather than public opinion, Gallup reveals that support for a handgun ban (of one sort or another) is a distinctly minority position. Some 70 percent are against it; leaving roughly 30 percent in favor.
If you’re wondering what kind of people comprise that 30 percent, or reckon gun control is a good idea in general, prepare to remain unsurprised.
The most significant differences in support for stricter gun laws are along political lines. More than 6 in 10 Democrats and liberals favor stricter gun laws — compared with 31% and 26% among conservatives and Republicans, respectively.
Other groups expressing greater-than-average support for stricter gun laws include women, those living in the East, nonwhites, those with postgraduate educations, and those living in households without guns.
If gun rights groups want to carve-out a group from their disloyal opposition that’s ripe for the turning, I reckon the fairer sex is fair game. Not only do women have an inherent interest in armed self-defense, but they often find the experience revelatory. So . . . protect your gun rights! Take a woman to the gun range. Not that anyone really gives a shit:
Only 1% of Americans mention gun control as America’s most important problem at this time, and even fewer mention crime. Thus, although there is majority support for stricter gun laws among both Democrats and liberals, it appears that there will not be pressure to make this a high-priority issue for the leaders of these political groups in the months ahead.
With violent crime stats continuing to sink (despite the liberal refrain that tough times equals high crime), there’s only one way gun control—pro or con—is going to make it to the top of the agenda. A few more terrorist spree killers like Ft. Hood’s Major Hassan and you’ll see a gun buying surge to rival the pre-Obama black rifle rush. Horrible, but true.