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In reply to the discussion: Why we lost the gun debate in the Senate, and why we'll keep losing it. [View all]SpartanDem
(4,533 posts)41. Yes it is the argument or really education
a poll by the DNC showed significant confusion on this issue. Bandying the about 90% support was in some way a mistake because fooled us into thinking it was a simple issues that could not lose. But as it turned out people views on this matter were much more complex.
n a nationwide poll our firm recently conducted for the Democratic National Committee, we asked 800 voters what action they want our government to take: enforce current gun laws more strictly but not pass new laws or pass new gun laws in addition to enforcing current laws more strictly. It came as no surprise to us that they chose better enforcement by 50 percent to 43 percent. (The remainder responded neither or dont know.)
But in the same poll, 87 percent of voters, including nearly 90 percent of gun owners, said they support background checks for all gun sales. Significant majorities of voters and of gun owners also told us they support banning military-style assault weapons along with the high-capacity magazines that enable those weapons to fire dozens of rounds without reloading.
To dig deeper into this confusion, we introduced a new series of questions. We asked this same group of voters whether or not specific laws were already on the books. Of the 50 percent of people who prefer enforcement over new laws over half of whom are gun owners 48 percent told us that federal laws prohibit the purchase of a weapon privately or at a gun show without a background check, while 10 percent simply admitted not knowing the rules. In other words, about 6 out of 10 people who believe we just need to do a better job of enforcing existing laws dont realize that those laws are far weaker than they think. And just under half of those who want better enforcement dont know that military-style assault weapons are, in fact, legal.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/07/opinion/sunday/dont-know-much-about-gun-laws.html?_r=0
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Why we lost the gun debate in the Senate, and why we'll keep losing it. [View all]
Savannahmann
Apr 2013
OP
do you truly believe the RW would honestly debate the issues surrounding gun control?
DrDan
Apr 2013
#1
The Majority Of People Support Gun Control But It Is Not Important To Them? Yes
sarisataka
Apr 2013
#19
So the vast majority is being held hostage by a small, heavily armed minority of fanatics? n/t
ellisonz
Apr 2013
#72
A motivated minority is having an impact, but that is how the Senate was designed.
aikoaiko
Apr 2013
#79
As a progressive democrat I'm tired of being blamed when my warnings go unheeded.
HereSince1628
Apr 2013
#53
I'm pro-third party but eager for dems to run candidates who aren't repukes in blue
BethanyQuartz
Apr 2013
#28
Your point about the hubris of DiFi is well made and she is not the only one
ProgressiveProfessor
Apr 2013
#11
The purpose of this post is not to revisit Gun Control in this Congress, or the next.
Savannahmann
Apr 2013
#17
If you are expecting our politicians to be knowledgeable you might as well give up now
Fumesucker
Apr 2013
#70
These are irrational people who think they need to strap a gun or two on to venture out.
Hoyt
Apr 2013
#29