As we approach the election, gun control has been a topic of discussion. Donald Trump says we can trust him with our gun rights, though he did direct the ATF to ban bump stocks. However, considering Kamala Harris's long and storied anti-gun history, despite her "I own a Glock" claims, it's not really a tough decision.
But it seems that a new poll says that most people actually want tighter gun laws.
At least, that's according to Rassmussen, which found that 51 percent of the people they polled want more restrictions on guns.
A majority of U.S. voters said the country needs stricter gun control laws, according to a Rasmussen Reports survey.
Asked whether the country needs stricter gun laws, 51% of likely voters said yes and 41% no, the Rasmussen poll results show.
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The latest Rasmussen Reports survey results released Wednesday also found that 50% of voters said there should be a ban on the purchase of semi-automatic and assault-type weapons, while 33% oppose such a ban, and 17% are not sure.
Among voters who said the U.S. needs strict gun control laws, 81% support an assault weapons ban.
In a party breakdown of voters, Democrats (77%) are significantly more likely than Republicans (31%) or independents (43%) to favor more gun control.
Also, 71% of Democrats said there should be a ban on the purchase of semi-automatic and assault-style weapons, while 33% of Republicans and 46% of unaffiliated voters agree.
This is...troubling.
However, there are things to consider here.
First, it's very easy to get support for a soundbite. That's all polling really does. People say they support a concept, often because they don't actually understand the topic enough. These are mostly people who have been inundated with anti-gun rhetoric from the media.
Further, I'm intrigued with how they phrase it; a "ban on the purchase of semi-automatic and assault-style weapons."
So they're lumping the two together. How many people supporting one support the other? While "assault-style weapons" are semi-automatic, generally, not all semi-automatic firearms are so-called assault weapons. How many respondents are willing to ban the AR-15 but not Kamala Harris's Glock?
Plus, no one seemed to bother asking just how strongly they felt about this.
That matters because it's entirely possible for someone to support this one thing, but not enough for it to sway their vote over other issues such as the economy, foreign policy, illegal immigration, etc.
And let's note that much of that support comes from within the Democratic Party. Most Independents and Republicans don't support any such thing, which means it's not a winning issue for Democrats as opposed to the other issues out there.
Yet it also means we need to be stepping up our efforts on outreach. People don't understand the issues particularly well because the media is choosing what to report. We need to make it a point to let people know that "semi-automatic weapons" include the handguns many of them have at home for self-defense. It includes their preferred shotgun for bird hunting or their favorite deer rifles. And yes, it also goes against the Second Amendment.
But most people aren't going to grok that and we all know it.
So, let's inform them of all of it. Let's make it clear what these laws mean.
Let's see if we can start turning this around. Let's see if we can make even some of the people who identify as Democrats rethink their position on guns. Let's see if we can turn some of these independents on the issue. Let's make these self-described Republicans embrace the party's pro-gun roots.
Let's do that so we can put an end to the threat to our semi-automatic weapons once and for all.
It would be a nice change of pace.
