Grassroots v. astroturf
The Trace, on noting that only 13% of respondents to ATF’s bumpstock request support gun control, gets a little butthurt:
The results of our analysis showcase a paradox of the gun debate. While widespread public support exists for many gun regulations and policies from bump stocks to background checks pro-gun advocates are significantly more active than their counterparts when it comes to engaging politicians and government agencies.
That’s because our side actually has a grassroots movement. You don’t. People are passionate about rights. Less so about infringing on them.
February 8th, 2018 at 6:44 pm
Weer’d likes to call it the “Our side is so much more numerous, but they’re just too damn lazy to tell you,” gambit
February 8th, 2018 at 6:54 pm
The other aspect is that the “widespread support” is mostly the result of dishonestly worded questions.
February 9th, 2018 at 10:04 am
All they have is Twitter bots.
February 9th, 2018 at 9:34 pm
Their study also shows something else: that gun owners are more knowledgeable than their gun control counterparts.
75% of gun owner responses were unique, as opposed to 55% of gun control advocates, who seemed to favor boilerplate.
You don’t need a lot of thought to be a hoplophobe.
February 9th, 2018 at 9:35 pm
Correction: 45% of hoplophobes were unique.