For the past several weeks, it’s just been wall-to-wall hysteria in the media about the need for more gun control. If my Google Alerts are any indication, the media is predictably moving on to other topics that generate more eyeballs. Move along. Nothing to see here. At least until the next sensationalist story comes along. I obviously have not covered much of the hysteria. It’s not changing any minds anyway.
I think we may have come to a stability in terms of public opinion on the gun issue, where we’ve pretty much convinced a majority that gun laws are not the solution to social ills. This is a good place to be, but we still need to do more. How? The Second Amendment, that you have some, if perhaps ill-defined in the public mind, right to own a firearm for self-defense, is now greater than an 80% issue. That you have a right to a handgun is approaching an 80% issue. I’d like to get the need for new gun laws to an 80% issue as well, and increases the number of folks who think maybe we ought to repeal a few. But how?
I suspect we’ve reached a stability because we’re not able to penetrate into the cities very effectively. New York and its entire metropolitan area is gun hostile. That’s close to 20 million people right there we can’t effectively reach. There’s another 13 million in the Los Angeles Metro area, and 10 million in the Chicago metro area. That’s 43 million people, the vast majority have no exposure to firearms, shooting, or hunting, and more importantly, 43 million people who are extremely unlikely to even know someone who does these things. If you total up all the hostile metro areas in this country, 5 million in the Boston area, 5 million in the bay area, 5 million in the San Bernardino area, and 3 million in San Diego, you’re starting to talk about a sizable chunk of public opinion.
I’ve always thought the fight in the Courts was important, but now I’m becoming convinced it’s of the utmost importance. If we’ve truly reaching a stability on the gun issue, the only way we’re going to make any further significant strides is to be able to re-establish a healthy shooting culture in these metro areas where it’s been extinguished because the anti-gunners control those legislatures or city councils. I also think it’s going to become more important for Congress to exercise it’s Section 5 powers under the 14th Amendment to eliminate state and local outliers in terms of gun laws. In fact, this is probably safer option than the states. If we can do that, I think you’ll see public opinion on this issue swing quite rapidly in our direction. If we can get most of the basic concepts of gun rights to 80% issues, most politicians won’t dare even speak the word gun control, no matter what the media and our hysterical opponents say.
Los Angeles is fighting a losing battle, as is the CA Legislature, to keep people from firearms. Sales of firearms are as for the rest of the country, and due to set a record. The progressives find this “inexplicable”. Counties other than Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and SF are approaching “shall-issue” in their CCW application approvals. Lots of first time buyers. While the headlines are progressive in tone, things are moving the right way.
San Diego, too. The pols are hoping the trend is not what it clearly is.
Your statement is not accurate. Dinosaur media outlets in the NYC metropolitan are including the NY Times, Daily News, etc. are antigun, but it’s mostly a non-issue with the public. The vast majority of politicians and candidates never talk about the issue. The Bradys, Ladd, etc. have no ability to motivate people on their issue so it just doesn’t come up.
Still, if we just include NYC and Chicago, we have a whole set of people who are locked out of the gun culture altogether (I gather permits for long guns are not always granted in Chicago, one of the MacDonald plaintiffs was denied one, and of course the city has no ranges for the public whatsoever).
So those, plus the people who have fled them, especially if concentrated (see my previous comment in another topic on Massachusetts and NH, D.C. and Prince George’s county), are not in a position to be converted and support us. Which we need to addresses in the courts.
Harry Schell’s comments make me much more sanguine about California … and after the Roberti-Roos backlash haven’t the politicians stuck to salami-slicing? (Importantly, they have preemption, so you don’t have a Chicago and some suburbs of it mess.)
Still, I’m reminded of some Civil War Lincoln (and other?) quotes about a divided nation….
Gun culture is not important. Politicians are making decisions based upon who participates in their election processes. NRA and locals refuse to do that in many areas, therefore their opinions don’t count.
I’m using “gun culture” as a proxy, or more like a foundation, for political activity.
Last time I checked, combining handgun and long gun permits, NYC has outstanding less than 120 thousand in a city of 8 million (and surely there’s some overlap). How are the locals going to change the laws when so few of them are even part of the game?
OK, a bunch would like to own a gun, but how would you get them organized? (Sounds like a job for an outside agitator, excuse me, community organizer :-)
There are thousands of members in NYC, Chicago, Philadelphia and elseware. Nothing prevents NRA, etc. from participating in their elections. I do in NYC. They could give endorsements, do mailings or make campaign contributions if they wanted to. They just don’t want to.
Are there endorsable candidates with any chance at all to win in those areas?
I get what you’re saying, but if the viable candidates are a D- / F+ respectively and the “pro-gun” candidate won’t get 1% of the vote, how much money in a high-cost media outlet like NYC is it responsible to spend in that race?
How much political capital should be expended to produce a high-profile loss that will inevitably be used by the anti’s as an example of how “the NRA is powerless?”
As far as spending money and time go I’d, as noted, look to lower-cost local “community organizing” by higher-ish local pro-gun folks who have gone through the system and can show how idiotic it is, like Emily Miller in DC.
For ads I’d go low-key and state simple facts about other states and their big cities with good gun laws and lower crime and rhetorically ask “Why do your political leaders think you would be less responsible with gun freedoms than they are? Why do their politicians trust them and yours don’t?”
Play up how insulting and elitist the anti’s fundamental message really is, big picture.
Are there endorsable candidates with any chance at all to win in those areas?
Yes. I just mailed a campaign contribution to one.
how much money in a high-cost media outlet like NYC is it responsible to spend in that race?
You don’t have to take out ads in the NY Times or WABC radio. Just send donations directly to their campaigns and mail orange postcards to members.
Thank you for taking the time to fill in the details. Good luck to your candidate and here’s hoping you get more organized support.
Get ready for the hysteria to start up again. Shooting near Texas A&M campus. So far, they’re saying one cop dead, one wounded, and four others wounded, with the shooter in custody. And, of course, according to the media, “It appears that the shooter [was] shooting from a house with automatic weapons”. There’s not a lot of other information, yet, and I’d treat everything so far as “unconfirmed”, considering how recent it is.
The shooter in the TX A&M incident is a deadbeat being served an eviction notice. The only connection with A&M is geography.