Why Gun Control Loses
Why Gun Control Loses
There are many more intense, relatively single-minded supporters of gun rights than opponents of it. An elected official is much more likely to lose office because he voted for regulating guns than because he voted against it.
.. Gallup has been polling Americans about guns for years. It finds public support for many regulations, and sometimes broad support. “Universal background checks” drew 86 percent approval in its most recent test of the issue. The public also believes that “easy access to guns” is a major factor in mass shootings. At the same time, public support for a ban on the civilian ownership of handguns has been falling for decades. In 1959, 60 percent of the public favored the idea and 36 percent opposed it. By 1975, support had fallen to 41 percent and opposition risen to 55. Now there’s a 76–23 percent supermajority against the idea.
.. A CBS/New York Times poll found that 26 percent of the public, a minority not much larger than the one that wants to ban handguns, thinks that “stricter gun control” would “help a lot” to stop gun violence.
.. Over the last 60 years public confidence in government has declined. Most people do not believe that it would be sensible for the government to try to disarm the population, no doubt in part because of the immensity of the task and the resistance it would spark.
.. What motivates the passionate gun-controllers? If saving lives is the goal, then directing more police resources to high-crime areas might have a bigger impact than any push for gun control