by Jeff Knox
Buckeye, AZ -(AmmoLand.com)- Two separate polls, both sponsored by Big Media agencies that are not historically friendly to guns and gun owners, were recently released, and the results are encouraging.
Polls commissioned by ABC News and the Washington Post and by CBS News and the New York Times both found that a majority of Americans oppose the idea of banning so-called “assault weapons.”
Perhaps people are realizing that terrorists and homicidal lunatics are always going to find a way to execute their evil.
Maybe they’re recalling the terrorists who used box cutters to turn planes into weapons on 9/11, the Muslim separatists in China who killed 29 people and injured 130 more last year using nothing more than kitchen knives, or the terrorist who acquired guns and explosives in heavily gun-restricted California, and even more restrictive France, which they used to launch attacks in San Bernardino and Paris. Maybe people are realizing that abrogating the rights of millions of people in the unlikely hope that it might prevent a handful of evil-doers from committing atrocities is not only irrational, but also unreasonable. Or perhaps people are finally looking at the real numbers and seeing that crime has been going down dramatically while the proliferation of firearms, particularly AR-type rifles, has been skyrocketing, and that rifles of any kind, while they have been used in several highly publicized tragedies, are actually comparatively rare in crimes, accounting for only about 3 percent of murders each year.
One thing that is starkly clear from these polls: Gun control has become a major dividing issue between Democrats and Republicans.
Both polls show majority support among Democrats for stricter gun control laws and an “assault weapons” ban, and both show majority opposition to those ideas among Republicans. Democrats support an AW ban 61 to 36 percent opposed. Republicans are even more definitive, with 70 percent opposing and only 27 percent supporting a ban. Independents split 55 percent opposed to 43 percent in favor. On the broader question of making gun laws stricter, 76 percent of Democrats support the idea, while the same 76 percent of Republicans think gun laws should remain as they are or be made less strict.
In an interesting twist, the ABC/Post poll asked, which is a better response to terrorism: more gun control, or more armed citizens? More armed citizens came out ahead, 47 to 42. Democrats chose gun control over armed citizens by 67 to 25 percent, while Republicans went heavily in the opposite direction, 21 to 70 percent. Independents rounded out the polling with 34 percent choosing more gun control and 52 percent supporting armed citizens.
Most of the available demographic information breaks down as expected, with more support for gun control among women, minorities and urban dwellers, but there was one demographic that came in contrary to usual assumptions: young people 18 to 29 years old. This demographic is generally considered a stronghold for Democrats, but on these questions they parted company with the party. Only 39 percent support a new AW ban, while 59 percent oppose the idea, and 44 percent chose more gun control, while 50 percent felt that more armed citizens is a better response to terrorism.
All of these poll numbers should have Democrats worrying a bit, because the factor that polls like these fail to show is the level of commitment among the respondents and, by extension, the voting public.
It is a well-established fact that while many voters might express support for gun control, for the vast majority of them it is not a key issue for them. It doesn’t sway their votes or drive them to the polls. On the other hand, a substantial percentage of voters who support gun rights are deeply dedicated to the issue. It determines their votes and gets them active and involved. It is one of the few issues for which voters will go against their unions and family traditions.
Support for gun control is trending down at the same time Democrats have chosen to make it a spotlight issue in the presidential and congressional campaigns. And while some polling shows broad support for some gun control measures, my history shows that support tends to be superficial and driven by ignorance and emotion. Once informed as to the flaws in these proposals, many people will quickly abandon them, and few are likely to be swayed to support or oppose a particular candidate based on their support for, or opposition to these measures.
As Bloomberg’s money is convincing Democratic candidates and campaign strategists that the power of GunVoters is just a myth, and that the fabled “third rail” of gun control has no juice, GunVoters are getting more energized and involved than they have been in decades. Support for gun control is at historic lows, as is gun crime, while gun sales are at historic highs. The public’s reaction to rampage murders and terrorist attacks is not to clamor for additional gun control, but to go out and buy more guns.
It’s looking like Democrats are going to regret jumping back on the gun control bandwagon, but only if Gun Voters and rights advocates don’t take anything for granted. Only by redoubling our efforts to get like-minded people active and involved can we deliver another historic defeat to anti-rights forces. That requires increased outreach and education, especially among women, minorities and young people. Start with your own family, and work out from there. Don’t wait until the day after the election to discover that your wife, daughter, or neighbor feels like gun control makes sense. Educate them now. Go to our website, FirearmsCoalition.org, or to my Author Page here on WND.com, and share articles with your family, friends and on social media. GunVoter.org is another resource you can use to get involved and to educate others.
Usually, when someone says an election is the most important in our lifetime, they’re just talking hype. Not this time. The coming elections are possibly the most important we will ever face. Get educated, active and involved. The fate of your rights – and the Republic – depend on you.
Media wishing to interview Jeff Knox, please contact [email protected].
About the Firearms Coalition:
The Firearms Coalition is a loose-knit coalition of individual Second Amendment activists, clubs and civil rights organizations. Founded by Neal Knox in 1984, the organization provides support to grassroots activists in the form of education, analysis of current issues, and with a historical perspective of the gun rights movement. The Firearms Coalition is a project of Neal Knox Associates, Manassas, VA.
For more information, visit: www.FirearmsCoalition.org.
In Russia they told the people the REASON for registering them was to let the Government know WHERE they were so they KNEW who they could have help the MOTHER COUNTRY to stop China, Japan & the U.S.A. from trying to INVADE them. They took 12 YEARS to convince the holdouts & it took them 6 WEEKS to collect them & they WIPED OUT everyone who didn’t VOLUNTARY TURN THEM at a cost of 1/4 of the countries people killed or sent to work in the mines of SIBERIA after they charged them with TREASON. One more thing they took… Read more »
Millions of unborn children are murdered each yr. and this is considered no crime. A few thousand are killed by guns by both good and bad guys and this is a big deal to the gun grabbers.
Jim
You are one of the few that has repeated those facts. I told my sister those same things and she looked at me like I was a foil helmet wearing bigfoot hunter. I will continue to remind people of those same facts because it should warn us of what can be accomplished with a blind media and “friends” with lots of money. Remember, we have currently elected officials that have not been vetted, and they may be worse than Barack Hussein Obama. Hopefully we can withstand this storm from within and clear the skies for a better America.
Every good Communist should know that political power grows out of the barrel of a gun, and that gun must remain firmly in the hands of the state. ~Mao Tse Tung ”How a politician stands on the Second Amendment tells you how he or she views you as an individual… as a trustworthy and productive citizen, or as part of an unruly crowd that needs to be lorded over, controlled, supervised, and taken care of.” ~ Dr. Suzanna Gratia Hupp “Never forget, even for an instant, that the one and only reason anybody has for taking your gun away is… Read more »
WE ARE SCREWED! We experimented with a delusional peanut farmer, we experimented with a governor from a then very criminal run rural state who was a sex abuser in OUR White House and we knowing this, elected him twice! We experimented with a puny dope smoking addicted cocaine user with low grades in college, a black guy whose family were either all proven communists and/or Muslims–who was educated in his formative years by Muslims in a foreign country who hated England and Western countries and then during his high school and college days he was running with proven hard core… Read more »
We told our legislators we didn’t want obummercare-they gave it to us anyways.
The Congress told the president we didn’t want more gun control-he’s giving it to us anyways-in spite of Congress.
I wonder what our government would give to us if we were unable to resist them.
Just remember what happened just before ww2, hitler had ALL the guns registered and then turned around and had them confiscated, the same thing IS going to happen here if we are not careful and watch what our elected creatures are doing. The people of this country have more to loose than you will ever know. Remember what Benjamin Franklin said,”ANY SOCIETY THAT GIVES UP A LITTLE LIBERTYFOR SAFETY SHALL HAVE NEITHER AND LOSE BOTH”. Also remember that well over 250 million people have been killed in the name of gun control ssincethe 1930s, this is also how DICTATORS are… Read more »
the talking heads in the media bombard us at every opportunity with violent crimes…theres thousands of self defense cases for each crime we never hear about, occasionally we’ll catch an article in a local news site if were just browsing…but the brain dead couch potatoe doesnt realize how many people with guns actually save lives and property…i suggest every pro gun site and news orgs. start a section of self defense cases..the proof is in the pudding, where citizens have less gun controls theres less crime..the strict controls allows criminals to commit their crimes without fear of being stopped
No such thing as a Democrat or Republican anymore. They are one in the same. I love the analogy that Congress is like WWE, everyone despises the other side on TV and in private they’re best of friends. Until more Americans “wake up” and realize they have the power to change who’s in office then we as a country will falter. Too many wolves and sheep, but not enough sheep dogs out there. God help us all