The Supreme Court delivered two big Second Amendment wins last term and is poised to strike down bans on so-called assault weapons in the coming months. The ATF is in the process of reforming its rules with an eye toward helping, not hurting, gun owners, gun makers, and gun sellers. The DOJ is now routinely filing suit challenging state and local gun control laws, and Republicans were able to zero out the taxes on most NFA items, which in turn led to a judge declaring that the NFA’s registration scheme is now devoid of any legal rationale.
These are all significant successes for Second Amendment advocates, so it’s kind of odd that we’re not hearing many Democrats talk about gun control as we get closer to Election Day. A new poll from Rasmussen may help to explain why.
The new survey found that while gun control is still broadly popular among Democrats (79 percent are in favor of tougher laws), just 48 percent of all likely voters feel the same. The Rasmussen poll also discovered that 52 percent of voters believe that stricter enforcement of existing laws would do more to reduce violent crime involving firearms, while just 34 percent say passing new laws would be a better approach.
Alan Gottlieb, head of the Second Amendment Foundation and the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (where I serve as an unpaid board member), says the survey’s findings are pretty striking, especially coming so close to Election Day.
“You have an overwhelming majority of Democrats saying the U.S. needs stricter gun control laws, and 65 percent of Democrats saying they would vote for a congressional candidate who promises to completely ban modern semi-automatic rifles.
“The timing of this Rasmussen survey is important and not just because of the looming midterm elections, but also because the U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments in two consolidated cases challenging bans on so-called ‘assault weapons’ in the upcoming term, which begins in October. Both cases were brought by our sister organization, the Second Amendment Foundation, known as Viramontes v. Cook County in Illinois and Grant v. Higgins in Connecticut and we will be submitting an amicus brief.”
I would like nothing more than to see support for the Second Amendment become a non-partisan issue backed by both major political parties. As the Rasmussen survey indicates, though, we’re nowhere close to that becoming a reality. Democrats are the party of gun control, but most Democrat politicians and their campaign advisors know that the smart move is to keep quiet about banning guns, imposing waiting periods, and criminalizing basic aspects of our right to keep and bear arms because those views are toxic to a majority of voters.
The few Democrats who are willing to mention their support for gun control are careful to also claim that they support the Second Amendment as well, though they never seem to be able to point to a gun control policy that goes too far in their view. I think most voters see through the “I support the Second Amendment, but…” rhetoric from Democrat candidates, which may explain why most of them are simply choosing not to mention the issue at all.
If Democrats take control of the House and/or the Senate, though, that will soon change. We saw that in Virginia last year. Gun control wasn’t a top issue for Democrats, but once they had control over the legislature and the governor’s office they quickly moved to pass more than a dozen major anti-gun bills. The Dems may be quiet about their gun ban plans for the moment, but that doesn’t mean they’re no longer interested in destroying our right to keep and bear arms.
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