The latest news from the Center for American Progress regarding the debate over new gun laws, What the Public Really Thinks About Guns, put together three main points to consider:
- Newtown changed the debate
- Much of the pre-Newtown polling missed emerging trends of Americans’ views on gun issues
- There is an emerging consensus on guns among the American public
The CAP's collection of data reinforces what we know about the broad support for background checks, along with a clear majority for a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, indicating a reversal of the downward trend in support for more strict gun laws. They suggest problems with some of the polling done on gun laws and the rhetoric in use, which is why I begin by putting "gun control" away as the chosen label used by gun enthusiasts, not advocates for reducing gun violence. And the consensus in the public is encouraging, even if Republicans in Congress may continue to ignore us. After all, the federal government isn't the only place where we can seek to make progressive change.
Since I'm from Tucson, it's unfortunate to see that the mass shooting here, along with so many that came before it, didn't change people's opinions as much as Newtown did. Better late than never, I suppose. But the effect seems clear, as CAP shows with the example of a Washington Post/ABC poll from January.
Likewise for the general question of support for stricter gun laws, CAP cites public polling showing that the slow decline in support has been reversed.
CAP's analysis mentions the overwhelming support for background checks, and that for the most part an assault weapons ban still enjoys majority support, although banning high-capacity magazines seems more popular. Makes me wonder if those two ideas can be presented separately, perhaps in the states, if the proposals in the Senate don't change. They also show the high degree of support for background checks among gun owners, and (more interesting to me) that NRA members know their leadership is out of touch,
even with them.
Perhaps most troubling for NRA leadership is that a majority of respondents—61 percent—in a recent Gallup poll say that the NRA does not reflect gun owners’ views on guns. Even in gun-owning households, 49 percent of respondents say that the NRA reflects their views “only sometimes/never,” while 50 percent of respondents answer “always/most of the time.” The NRA’s distance from gun owners suggests the organization is out of touch with its own constituency. And voters agree. A February Public Policy Polling poll shows that 39 percent of Americans said that the NRA’s support would make them less likely to support a candidate for office, while only 26 percent said the NRA’s support would make them more likely to support a candidate.
There's much more to CAP's analysis that makes it worth a good read. Moving on, though, to why "gun control" doesn't work and isn't used except as a pejorative, they point out that national groups don't use it -- Gabby Giffords' new organization, Americans for Responsible Solutions, for example, chose responsibility to focus on rather than even
mention guns.
“Control” has been dropped for a reason: It is aggressive rather than neutral. It sounds as if “control” alone is the objective, and it helps paint the incorrect picture of government “coming for” one’s guns. And you’d be hard pressed to think of another set of laws that uses the word. Despite all this, “control” remains in the common vernacular.
And CAP goes on to cite polling that uses "gun control" and how support for stricter gun laws declines with its use. Certainly the NRA can be cited for its many wild conspiracies about the government coming for your guns. That's to be expected of them, as a fringe right-wing outfit more interested in the profits of gunmakers than people's lives. Not so much journalistic outlets like CBS News or the LA Times.
CAP concludes with the common ground that they've found:
The common ground is centered on the following two ideas:
- Responsible law-abiding Americans have a right to own guns.
- Much more needs to be done to keep dangerous guns from dangerous people.
Pollsters have too often asked questions that present these two ideas as opposing; the vast majority of Americans view these concepts as consistent and complementary.
That's the sort of 'common ground' that I've seen here as well, although again there's one side to the argument, the NRA, that's not doing much for gun safety and responsibility. They'd rather sacrifice policy proposals with overwhelming support, like background checks, on the altar of the 2nd Amendment. Perhaps the resultant bloodshed will smell as sweet to their god.