Household gun ownership is increasing. That tells me we definitely have a decent amount of uninitiated people entering the shooting world. Most of us experienced in the issue aren’t going to talk to random people calling to ask about guns in the house.
But let me talk for a minute about the actual poll. I’m going to assume below that you skim the poll.
Household gun ownership: It’s good news that overall household gun ownership has increased, but if that’s all happening in red states, it actually doesn’t help us. What I see is an increasing divide between Republicans and Democrats on the gun issue. If that managed to marginalize the Democrats so they couldn’t win elections, that would be fine, but it does not appear the Democratic Party is in decline. A big increase in household gun ownership in swing states would be great news. We have some good evidence that it’s increasing in blue states, but real polling would be helpful.
Gender gap: The gender gap on the issue is still very significant. It would be interesting to see gender cross tabs broken down by race. I suspect we’re doing much better with white women, but not doing as much to reach minority women.
Generation gap: There’s no serious generation gap on the issues the Dems are likely to be able to achieve on, except for a federal database of gun sales. Unfortunately, millennials aren’t very big privacy wonks. Millennials do seem, however, to have figured out the “assault weapons” issue is bullshit.
Overall I’d say the poll is good news. But I’m worried about anti-gun attitudes becoming a shibboleth among Democrats. If they can achieve that kind of cultural unity, and still win elections, eventually our goose is going to get cooked.
I share your frustration since it’s getting tough discussing good news anymore because it’s just enough to let people know that things are “working” for us, but it keeps people lethargic. And that includes myself sometimes. So what do we do to reach minority communities that we aren’t already doing? I’m impressed with the work that “Black Guns Matter” and like-minded groups are already doing in the Philly area. We’re a swing state, have the second largest (I think?) number of LTCF holders in the country, and we’re leaning Dem. So I think if you are looking at this politically and being paranoid, we need to understand the need to divorce the gun issue from the two party vortex. And in PA that has happened. It’s actually happened on the pro-life issue as well. It’s just that people are not voting on one issue alone no matter what the cause. For me, it’s easier supporting a candidate in PA being a pro-life voter since usually those two issues usually happen to align (this transcends the two party issue since there are many pro-life/pro-gun Dems in this state). Every state has its own dynamics that we “pro rights” folks need to come to grips with to win. The pro-gun crowd courts Republicans nearly 100 percent of the time and that is how we will be known by the MSM until it’s actually not true anymore.
However, I would also note that a Sebastian missive would not be complete without a necessary dose of debbie downer at the end of the post.
It’s a fact. If the Dem party, as it’s currently constituted, managed to get control of all three branches of the government, we’re done for.
Maybe in remission…but nothing ever lasts forever. Things just cycle around from time to time.
A common question in polls is to the effect of “Do you support stricter gun control laws” and the response for this has been getting better over the years with more people saying No than Yes. But this question is much different for someone from Oklahoma than someone from New York. If people from NY are happy with their gun laws but people from OK want stricter gun laws then we are still screwed.
I once found the results of a major poll broken down by state (can’t find it now) and oddly the break was very clear … people from restrictive states wanted MORE restrictions and people from open states did not. So basically the more you control people (at least liberals) the more they want to be controlled. And this makes sense — if you believe that gun control is the only solution to gun violence then you just want more because it’s never enough.
It’s no wonder that in many states you can carry a loaded gun in your car with no permit, but if you cross the border into another state it’s a felony with a 3.5 year mandatory sentence.
One problem with polls dealing with specific control issues is the profound ignorance most people have regarding current gun laws and regulation. And, not all ignorance is on the anti-gun side. Gun owners who haven’t purchased a firearm in the past 25 years, or who have never bought a gun at a gunshow or from a online dealer like Davidsons believe that too many guns are bought with no background check. They are for expanded background checks until you ask them if they think background checks should be required if they want to loan their brother a shotgun so he could go on s duck hunt with his boss, and then again when their brother returns the firearm.You get a radically different answer.
“I support gun control because right now it’s legal and easy for a child to buy a machine gun on the Internet!”