Begging
It looks like the petulant, gun-toting NRA stalwarts have won the first round.
I smell Reasoned Discoursetm coming!
Last time, I used this space to ask where you stand on the issue of gun control. A torrent of e-mails later, it’s clear: Gun-control advocates were outgunned, four to one.
The gun lovers were legion, robust and vitriolic. Many of you told me to go places where the sun doesn’t shine and the temperature is way too hot. Yet, if you believe public opinion polls, that reaction is an anomaly. For instance, last April, ABC News polled adults nationwide, and asked: “Do you favor or oppose stricter gun control laws in this country?” Sixty-one percent favored them, 36 percent were opposed, and 3 percent were “unsure.”
CBS News asked, “In general, do you feel the laws covering the sale of handguns should be made more strict, less strict, or kept as they are now?” Two-thirds of respondents nationwide opted for “more strict.”
I don’t think you’re reading the same polls that I am. More:
What is the problem with the advocates of gun control? Why are their voices not being heard? They are consistently cowed and overmatched. Gun violence is out of control, yet the gun lovers are ascendant.
See, the gun controllers are righteous and pure. The fact their agenda is failing in the public arena must be the fault of the evil gun lobby.
Do you want to be standing in line for gas, popcorn or a gallon of milk and find yourself next to someone who’s packing heat?
Why not? When I’m in line, I am packing heat.
Still, despite the polls, it seems the gun control advocates have been outmatched. Abigail Spangler acknowledges as much. Spangler is the founder of ProtestEasyGuns.com, a Virginia-based group that has been spearheading a slew of anti-gun protests around the nation.
Gun control activists, she wrote me, “are TRYING HARD but they are seriously affected in state after state by lack of funding and contributions.” She recently met, she says, with the leader of Virginia’s only gun control group. “He says they may not even be able to afford any lobbyist at all soon in Virginia!”
And there it is. The begging. The idea doesn’t sell and they don’t know why. They just don’t understand why people aren’t passionate about restricting the law-abiding. And why people are passionate about their rights. They don’t grasp that their philosophy is a losing one that simply cannot stand to scrutiny. And since it is failing, they have to do it harder.
August 27th, 2007 at 9:25 am
[…]you’ll be treated to what sounds like a petulant teenager indulging in a fit of sulking.[…]
August 27th, 2007 at 9:33 am
I sent a letter. I’m sure I’ll get the same automated response.
August 27th, 2007 at 10:16 am
Considering that most people are honest and bear no ill will to their fellow (wo)man, yes, I do want the person next to me “packing heat” (if s/he is so inclined). I’m quite sure it will have an salutary effect on the behavior of that _very_ small portion of humanity that does bear ill will to their fellow (wo)man.
Besides that, when I’m in line, I am packing heat.
August 27th, 2007 at 12:14 pm
But she’s wrong, according to a recent Zogby poll.
http://sev.prnewswire.com/entertainment/20070821/LATU11321082007-1.html
66% k there are enough laws and current laws should be enforced.
Here’s the money line after the %%.
“A majority of voters who support enforcement of gun laws already on the books exists virtually across all demographic groups and in all regions of the country with the only exception being Asian and liberal voters.”
August 27th, 2007 at 12:58 pm
Just shot her an email myself. A little more snarky than Thirdpower’s, though ;).
August 27th, 2007 at 1:03 pm
Post it. You’ll never see it again otherwise. I’m sure her response will be as automated as all the others.
August 27th, 2007 at 2:00 pm
[…] takes care of it. Go have a […]
August 27th, 2007 at 7:01 pm
I aspire to being a “petulant, gun-toting NRA stalwart”, but I don’t think I’m worthy of that title yet.
August 27th, 2007 at 9:28 pm
Done.