Is the tide of public opinion finally turning on guns in America?
That’s the impression you’d have if you’ve listened to the mainstream media lately. One CNN poll found that “Seven in 10 favor tighter gun laws in wake of Parkland shooting.” MSNBC reported that public attitudes towards gun policy shifted quickly following Parkland, so much so that their polling shows the public has the “highest level of support for gun control ever.”
But what does the public think, really? Anyone who supports any additional restrictions on firearms, regardless of how incremental, could be classified as being for more gun control, but it doesn’t mean they want the kind of extreme measures that the far-left does.
Despite all the hype, the public’s views on guns haven’t changed for the worse in the wake of the Parkland shooting – or over the past couple of decades.
According to TownHall Magazine:
A new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll finds that Americans are not becoming more hostile to the idea that gun ownership makes people safer.
New NBC/WSJ poll: 58% agree w/ statement that gun ownership does more to increase safety by allowing law-abiding citizens to protect themselves. Only 38% say that gun ownership reduces safety by giving too many people access to firearms, increasing chances for accidental misuse.
— David M. Drucker (@DavidMDrucker) March 23, 2018
This trend has been heading in the opposite direction, actually. So while gun control advocates have succeeded in turning public opinion on certain individual gun control measures, they’re losing the fundamental debate about guns, that they’re a net positive for society.
To quote directly from the NBC poll:
These findings represent a reversal from 1999, when a majority — 52 percent — said gun ownership reduces safety. And they come at a time when 47 percent of American adults say they have a firearm in the household, which is up from 44 percent in 1999. The numbers also highlight a stark divide by party, with 89 percent of Republicans and 65 percent of independents saying gun ownership increases safety, versus just 28 percent of Democrats who agree.
It’s no wonder groups like Planned Parenthood, MoveOn.org, and the Women’s March backing the “March For Our Lives,” are the main organizations backing the gun control agenda of the Majority Stoneman Douglass students. Public opinion hasn’t turned on guns – the Left is just exploiting yet another tragedy for political gain.
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