Only Good Guys With Data Can Stop the Gun Lobby

[onehandle]

For the latest illustration of how thoroughly gun politics is entwined with gun culture, look no further than Colorado. In a proxy war last week between gun-rights and pro-regulation forces, two Democratic state legislators who backed successful gun legislation lost recall elections.

The recall won’t undo the Colorado law, which limits ammunition magazines to 15 rounds and mandates background checks on private gun purchases. Nor will it change the pro-regulation majority in the state legislature. Those points aside, the results confirm once again that -- even in a purple state trending blue -- the battle for sensible gun regulation will be a long one.

According to a poll of one of the Colorado districts, voters supported expanded background checks by 68 percent to 27 percent, while they split 47-to-47 on the restrictions on high-capacity magazines. Yet State Senator Angela Giron lost the recall vote by 12 points in a district that President Barack Obama carried easily last year. The defeat was reminiscent of the legislative loss in Washington five months ago, when the U.S. Senate failed to summon a filibuster-proof majority for expanded background checks on gun purchases despite overwhelming public support.

In Colorado, as in the nation at large, public opinion in support of gun regulation proved broad but insufficiently deep. In addition, many moderate voters had misgivings about gun regulation in general, even as they expressed support for elements of it. Cultural touchstones loom large in the gun debate, including conceptions of autonomy and liberty that are deeply fixed in many American communities. Finally, in low-turnout elections such as last week’s, intensity wins the day.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-15/only-good-guys-with-data-can-stop-the-gun-lobby.html

[Skittles]

3. stop saying pro-gun

it's GUN HUMPING

[onehandle]

6. Somewhere on the Internets, that form of porn exists.

No links please.

[Skittles]

9. have you noticed all the new humpers on DU after every mass killing?

f***ing ASSHOLES

[onehandle]

10. Yeah. New. Brand new humpers.

No sockpuppets there.

NosireeBob.

[Skittles]

14. well yes, they could be the same assholes logging in under different names

I do find the newer names to be somewhat uninspired

[rl6214]

15. Stop saying gun humping

It's juvenile and idiotic

[Skittles]

16. I'll take juvenile and idiotic over ignorant and paranoid

ANY F***ING DAY

[rl6214]

18. I'd say you probably take all of the above

[Skittles]

19. you're wrong

you just cannot stand that not all of us are influenced by NRA $ - some of us can actually THINK FOR OURSELVES

[msongs]

5. probably true. that's why we get these pro-gun poster boys every now and then like in DC nt

[Skittles]

20. they make me SICK

[madinmaryland]

2. Good Guys With Data and 1% of the money of the NRA will never stop the NRA. nt

[onehandle]

4. The tide will turn.

And dozens of sockpuppets at DU operated by one or two know so.

[madinmaryland]

8. It will be a long battle. One that I will not see to the end.

I am appreciative of Skinner of reducing the NRA influence of the gungeon on DU.

[LittleBlue]

7. That polling means squat in elections

The recall proved that. Like the article says, intensity matters. The pro-gun crowd are far more committed. I can just imagine much of the 68% supporting expanded background checks answering "yeah I guess I can support that." After all, you're putting the question to them, a question that perhaps has never really interested them in the past. Ask them also how much they care about the issue.

[Llewlladdwr]

11. What's "gun culture"? nt

Does that mean owning a gun? Generally supporting the 2nd Amendment? Engaging in shooting as a hobby? Playing video games in which guns are used? Watching movies in which gun violence is shown as a valid solution to conflict? Reading books that glorify gun violence? Does going to a gun show count? What if you're going to look at knives, does that make a difference? Help me out here....

[mwrguy]

12. Incest, double-wides, and banjo playing

might figure in there somewhere.

[Llewlladdwr]

13. What do any of those things have to do with guns?

Are you saying "gun culture" is a trailer park thing?

[Skittles]

21. LOVE the ones who just cannot figure out what a "gun culture" is

[struggle4progress]

17. "low turnout" means "botched ground game" -- the wackos got their gun-nuts to the polls,

but the other side didn't

people often think politics is about policy but IT'S REALLY ABOUT ORGANIZATION -- and since money can buy some organization, money wins if all else is equal

but ALL ELSE NEED NOT BE EQUAL

PEOPLE POWER CAN BEAT MONEY WHEN PEOPLE ARE MOTIVATED

it's simply a matter of learning how to talk about the issues and then doing the outreach -- the tabling, the leaf-letting, the phone-dialing, the door-knocking

if you really want to win, you don't sit on your hands