Lots of discussion about gun rights recently. I've only fired a handgun once, out in the woods with friends, on New Years day of Y2K. It was pretty fun, probably a bit irresponsible, but I felt my friends were suitably careful about how we shot them. I still have a strong aversion to being around guns, but I see the appeal. I know someone who killed himself with a gun, and someone else who killed his dad with a gun, both during periods of serious mental instability. In both cases, I don't remember any discussion about blaming the guns, or whether those two individuals should not have had gun access - these were traditional rural communities, and for all the red flags that these two people threw up, I guess gun rights are considered fundamental. I have a relative who killed himself by hanging, and one who is currently doing so with alcohol.
Before I started writing this diary, I hadn't really thought about the impact that guns have had on my life. Had I been closer to those two people, I probably would have tried to restrict their access to guns, but doubt that I would have been successful. Nor am I convinced that nothing would have happened, if they hadn't had guns. I generally don't like being around armed people, but am now in general more trusting and respectful of police officers and military people, thanks to some good friends. And I would like to learn how to hunt - I'm growing more appreciative of that aesthetic, as an environmentalist.
But none of that's to the point of this diary, which is about the political value of the gun rights movement. I remember that there was a last-minute push in the 2000 presidential election by the NRA for Bush, based on Gore's support for increased gun control, which played a significant factor in Florida. I'd been very supportive of increased gun control at the time, considered it to be an effective way to reduce a lot of unnecessary and irresponsible deaths and injuries. I still do. But I also knew then that I would have much preferred Gore as president. I still do.
The threat that Obama's coming for everyone's guns is a credible one within a significant minority of the population, as we've seen from blockbuster gun and ammo sales. The mood among them is more intense than I remember from pre-Apocalypse Y2K, although that may be due to a less sensationalistic media at the time, or a more primitive blogosphere. Gun rights and abortion rights have served as shibboleths between the Left and the Right, although there are plenty of politicians on both sides that cross the line or stay close to the middle.
I'm not going to wade through the death/injury stats, because I'm sure that many better-qualified and better-motivated people already are fighting that fight. But I'd be willing to trade better health care for gun rights. I'd be willing to trade better education and support services for low-income children for gun rights. Of course, it's not as if we can just choose to trade one for the other, but what if the Dems did make a serious play for NRA members? The NRA has been using the Liberal Threat as a massive fundraising/organizing tool for decades, even though there are plenty of pro-gun Dem politicians. Of course there's always going to be a committed pro-gun core that will always vote R, and the NRA's most likely response would be to push their Overton window further, but what if there was a significant percentage of the pro-gun community that we could reach, with a general policy reevaluation?
I've seen a good amount of intensity in the recent DK discussions on this. Not the same intensity as I/P, and so far it strikes me as a much more open, constructive discussion. While my personal feeling is that gun-related violence could be reduced through better gun control, I appreciate the arguments by pro-gun people here that are based on the importance of responsible gun ownership, and recognize that there could be some serious tactical benefits to opening up a new front on this issue, by showing support for reasonable gun rights.
Likely my Overton Window has moved over the years. After the W years, when I felt so many things were threatened, damaged, or destroyed by the Bush Administration, gun control issues are a lot less important to me than keeping the WH and Congress for a few more years, and getting a few more justices on the Supreme Court. So I'm throwing this out there - what do you think about a tactical shift on gun rights?