to our national gun laws. In my opinion the rash of bans and limits on magazine capacity that recently passed in some states has eroded support for new gun control legislation. I believe most people including gun owners wish to reduce the level of gun violence in our nation but do not strongly support banning certain firearms, requiring any form of national registration or the confiscation of firearms from honest sane and responsible individuals.
January 30, 2014
Americans' Dissatisfaction With Gun Laws Highest Since 2001
Increase in proportion who are dissatisfied and want less strict laws
***snip***
Americans may be dissatisfied with gun laws because they believe they should be stricter, or because they believe the laws are too strict as they are. Therefore, Gallup asks those who are dissatisfied with gun laws to choose among explanations for their dissatisfaction. Those who are dissatisfied have historically leaned heavily in the direction of wanting stricter rather than less strict laws.
But this year, the gap between those wanting stricter gun laws and those wanting less strict laws narrowed as a result of a sharp increase in the percentage of Americans who want less strict laws, now at 16% up from 5% a year ago. Support for making gun laws stricter fell to 31% from 38% last January. The January 2013 poll was conducted shortly after the December 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting tragedy, which sparked some state governments to consider new gun laws and a robust national discussion about the issue.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/167135/americans-dissatisfaction-gun-laws-highest-2001.aspx
Many gun control advocates who post here have stated that "nobody wants to take your guns away." That sounds like a reasonable position to me and perhaps reasonable gun owners would be willing to work with such people to improve existing federal gun laws.
The gun control movement has a long history of trying to ban and even confiscate firearms in our nation. Let's look at the history of the Brady Campaign:
Brady Campaign
The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence are affiliated 501(c)(4) and 501(c)(3) (respectively) nonprofit organizations in the United States. Together, they are commonly referred to as the Brady Campaign. They are named after James "Jim" Brady, who was permanently disabled as a result of the Ronald Reagan assassination attempt of 1981, and Sarah Brady, who was a leader within the organization from 1989 until 2012.
The Brady Campaign was founded in 1974 as the National Council to Control Handguns (NCCH). From 1980 through 2000 it operated under the name Handgun Control, Inc. (HCI). In 2001, it was renamed the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, and its sister project, the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence, was renamed the Brady Center to Prevent Handgun Violence....emphasis added
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brady_Campaign
How the Gun-Control Movement Got Smart
MOLLY BALLFEB 7 2013, 7:00 AM ET
Here is how advocates of gun control used to talk about their cause: They openly disputed that the Second Amendment conferred the right to own a gun. Their major policy goals were to make handguns illegal and enroll all U.S. gun owners in a federal database. The group now known as the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence was once known as Handgun Control Inc.; a 2001 book by the executive director of the Violence Policy Center was entitled Every Handgun Is Aimed at You: The Case for Banning Handguns.
***snip***
If the NRA today seems fixated on the notion that the left is out to undercut the Second Amendment, confiscate law-abiding Americans' legally acquired firearms, and instigate federal-government monitoring of all gun owners, that's because 15 years ago, gun-control advocates wanted to do all of those things....emphasis added
Federal licensing and registration as a requirement for gun ownership was a top policy goal -- in the 2000 Democratic presidential primary, then-Vice President Al Gore came out in favor of photo licenses for gun owners, drawing criticism from Senator Bill Bradley, who supported the further step of registering every gun. National bans on handguns were also on the agenda: One such proposal, introduced in the House and Senate in 1993, would have "prohibit[ed] the transfer or possession of handguns and handgun ammunition, except in limited circumstances," requiring current handgun owners to turn in their weapons over the course of a six-month grace period. And the idea that the Second Amendment didn't confer an individual right to own a gun, which was at the time a fairly mainstream legal view, was part of the gun-control movement's gospel. (The Supreme Court ruled in 2008 that such a right existed, knocking down the D.C. handgun ban in the process.)
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/02/how-the-gun-control-movement-got-smart/272934/
Gun rights advocates have a long memory. We understand that many in the gun control movement have a final goal of enacting firearm laws such as exist in Australia or Great Britain. That's why we oppose any gun bans or even restrictions on magazine capacity as they are just incremental steps to further gun bans and restrictions. However many who advocate stronger gun would simply like to see our existing laws strengthened to better insure that those who can buy and own firearms are honest, responsible and sane.
Once the leadership of the gun control movement totally gives up on trying to disarm citizens and instead advocate for truly sensible improvements to the current gun laws we may start to make some progress. Of course that will never happen overnight and may take years.
Statements like you made do nothing to improve the situation but merely convince even rational gun owners that compromise with gun control advocates is impossible and not worth the effort. Some will decide to simply resist any and all changes and to vote against any and all Democrats as our party is seen as the party of gun control. In close elections at the local, state and national level their votes may give the election to a Republican or even worse to an ultraconservative member of the Tea Party. Consequently many other truly important legislative ideas that our party advocates will face a difficult road and our nation will suffer in the long run.
I've known a good number of gun owners that I have met at the range that largely agree with me on many issues that Democrats support but Republicans do not. If I suggest they vote for a Democrat they politely inform me that they would never do so as they greatly value their hobby and investment in the shooting sports. It's sad to think that gun rights to them are the most important issue that drives them to the polls but it is.
Another factor which is rarely discussed is that the sale of firearms, especially assault weapons, absolutely skyrocketed in the last year after the tragedy at the Sandy Hook Elementary School. I feel that was mainly driven by the fear that another assault weapons ban would pass in congress and draconian gun laws would pass. I didn't run out and buy any firearms because I knew that there was little or no chance of such legislation passing. However I was greatly disturbed that an excellent opportunity to pass some real improvements to our gun laws went nowhere. I also feel that the effort to pass another AWB set back chances for improvement for many years. As I stated, gun owners have long memories.
By pushing for the AWB our party effectively shot itself in the foot. Now millions of new firearms are in the hands of citizens who had no previous need to own one. The NRA gained 500,000 new members and firearm and ammunition manufacturers profited.
I would like to see a return to times like when I grew up in the 1950s and 60s. The only people I knew who had firearms had good reason to own them as they were hunters, target shooters or collectors. The reality is that violent crime in our nation has fallen to levels last seen in the late 1960s. This fact is not widely publicized as it doesn't support either the idea that we need stronger gun control or the fantasy that we live in violent times and everybody should own a firearm for self defense.
= new reply since forum marked as read
- they are coming to get you and your ilk - the sooner, the better.
