20% of Ignorant Voters Think Owning a Gun is Immoral

Opinion

Arizona -(Ammoland.com)- The young woman above is almost certainly one of the minority of Americans that believes owning a gun is immoral. A recent Rassmussen poll revealed that 20% of registered voters in the United States believe owning a gun is immoral. From jacksonville.com:

Beyond specific issues, the attitudes being voiced by many progressive Democrats seem almost designed specifically to antagonize Midwestern voters. Twenty percent of all voters consider owning a gun immoral, and 20% believe it is immoral to call for limits on government. Eleven percent think eating meat and having children are also immoral.

The specific Rassmussen poll was taken on 23-24 March 2019, at scottrasmussen.com.

In the poll, 9% thought owning a gun was very immoral. 11% thought owning a gun was somewhat immoral.  15% thought it was not very immoral, and 58% thought it was not at all immoral.

The poll was of registered voters, which is helpful. It would be interesting to know what the numbers would be of likely or actual voters.

It is not surprising that a very similar number thought to limit government was immoral.

9% thought it was very immoral; and 11% thought it was somewhat immoral, with 53% saying it was not immoral at all.

This poll reinforces the idea there is a significant overlap between those who do not want any limits on government and those who oppose people owning firearms.

Those who think it immoral to own firearms are about evenly split between men and women, with a few more men than women.

Those who think it immoral to limit government, have a few more women than men.

About a year ago, I wrote an essay explaining the mindset of consciously unarmed people. I wrote this:

If you have chosen to be unarmed, you probably do not have much knowledge about firearms and firearms technology. Learning and knowing about firearms is one of the costs that people avoid by choosing to be unarmed. When gun owners point out technical mistakes in articles and legislation concerning guns, it strikes you as meaningless babble. Semi-automatic, automatic- who cares? You are not interested in guns, so technical distinctions are considered unimportant.

Because you have chosen to be unarmed, you know you need an armed protector to keep you safe. That would be the government. To make such a choice, you assume that government is benevolent, concerned with your safety, and available in time of need. It helps to assume the need for an armed protector is minimal. Thus, unarmed people constantly attempt to minimize the need for armed protection.

This explains the arguments put forward to claim that crime is not a problem, the government could never become tyrannical, attempts to minimize the danger of wild animals and the desire to minimize government ineffectiveness during emergencies. It explains why so much effort is expended to discredit the number of times firearms are used for self defense and to prevent crime.

People who believe that owning firearms is immoral are almost certainly consciously unarmed.  Today, in the United States, no one forces people to be armed, though there were laws to require people to be armed in the colonies and the early history of the United States.

The vast majority of those who believe guns are immoral are urban dwellers. It is hard to sustain this belief if you live in a rural area where guns show utility in everyday life.

It is hard to sustain the belief if you are exposed to examples where guns are used effectively for defense against humans, as are most police and military people.  This effect is why the Old Media spiked self-defense stories for decades.  Those stories are still spiked, but many more are becoming known to more people, because of AmmoLand News.

The vast majority of the media almost certainly fall into the minority that consider owning guns to be immoral. How did that happen? It is simple. People in the media have been overwhelmingly chosen by those who believe in Progressive ideology. Progressive ideology believes limiting government is a bad thing.

If you let slip that you did not believe in Progressive ideology, you were not promoted. Those who do not believe owning guns is immoral do not move up the ladder of promotion. I have seen it happen. If you are in the media and do not toe the line to show a belief that limiting the government or owning guns is immoral, you are not promoted.

The First Amendment seemed an exception. But limiting government control over the Media was only promoted by the left when they controlled nearly all the media. Now that there are alternative voices to be heard like AmmoLand News, the Media is certain the First Amendment is a bad idea, or at the minimum, the First Amendment should only apply to Progressives or people on the left. Constitutionalists need not apply.

Having 20% of the population believe limits on government, or gun ownership (one of those limits) is immoral, is a dangerous thing in a republic designed to be limited, by its very structure.

It is why we have people contesting the results of the last election. It is why we have calls for the destruction of the electoral college and the First and Second Amendments. That percentage can be reduced by education, especially of the young.

For the present, it is a clear and present danger to the Republic.

About Dean Weingarten:

Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of constitutional carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and recently retired from the Department of Defense after a 30-year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.