Study Finds Gun Control Supporters Less Likely To Contact Officials

Published under creative commons.

Gun grabbers don’t seem to understand why, no matter what happens, they can seem to cram new gun regulations down people’s throats. They’re outright ghoulish in climbing over dead bodies so they can capitalize on any tragedy, yet time and again, they keep coming up short. It has to baffle them.

Advertisement

To be sure, there are a lot of reasons why this happens, but a recent study just illustrated a potential biggie.

Just 15% of all U.S. adults say they have ever contacted a public official to express their opinion on gun policy. About one-in-five gun owners (21%) have done this, including 9% who say they’ve done so in the past year. That compares with 12% of non-gun owners who have ever reached out to officials about gun policy, including 5% who have done so in the past year.

Furthermore, Americans who believe gun laws should be less strict are more likely to contact public officials on the issue than those who think gun laws should be stricter or are about right (22% have ever done so, compared with 15% of those who favor stricter laws and 10% of those who think laws are about right). Among gun owners, 19% of those who want less strict laws have contacted a public official in the past year, compared with 9% of those who want stricter laws.

This touches on another reason to not get too worked up regarding the survey last week showing massive support for gun control. It shows support, but it doesn’t really touch on just how strongly people feel about that gun control.

Advertisement

What this particular poll shows us is that gun owners aren’t just more engaged in general, but they’re also far more likely to have strong opinions on the Second Amendment and gun rights. They’re the ones who are going to call their representatives and tell them how they should vote. They’re the ones who will battle over the issue.

Meanwhile, many “supporters” of gun control are lukewarm supporters at best. They might think it’s a good idea to have more regulations–and often think there are practically none, to be frank–but they’re not so worked up over the issue that they’ll actually do anything about it. They might make a few angry tweets, a Facebook post or two, and sign a petition.

At most.

Well, guess what lawmakers see? They see legions begging for their gun rights while their opponents just expect magic to happen…kind of like what they think will occur if they get their way. Then again, most aren’t that forward thinking. They just shrug when the pollsters call and answer, “Sure, why not?”

Advertisement

Unfortunately, it shows a problem. While the numbers of gun owners who call their legislators is significantly higher than those who haven’t, it’s still only 21 percent who have ever reached out to their lawmakers. That number needs to be higher. A lot higher. In fact, if that was the number who haven’t done so, it would still be too high.

We see where we have the edge over the gun grabbers, so it makes sense to keep pushing at that weak point until the whole wall of gun control comes tumbling down forever.

Join the conversation as a VIP Member