Some simple political science concerning public opinion, gun control and elections

[bluestateguy]

The gun control crowd--never satisfied with simply enforcing existing laws on the books--always likes to suggest that 65%-70% of the public favors more gun laws. Therefore, they ask, why should the politicians be afraid of more "common sense" gun laws?

The fundamental problem is that the pro-gun voters, while smaller in number, feel much more strongly about their position than do the gun control voters.

So let's say we have an election where 70% of the voters really do favor more gun laws, while 30% do not. Candidate A is for more gun laws, while candidate B is pro-gun and opposes new gun laws. What all too often happens in these situations is that 100% of the 30% of pro-gun voters vote for candidate B, because they don't want to hear about any other issues other than their guns (who cares if they disagree with candidate B on funding for afterschool programs?). Meanwhile, the gun control voters tend to just consider the gun issue as another issue in the great laundry list of political issues, and a large minority of them may vote for the pro-gun candidate anyway because of some other pressing issue. So lets say 70% of that 70% of gun control voters vote for candidate A, while 30% of them vote for candidate B.

Take a look at your election results:

Candidate A (gun control) 49%
Candidate B (pro-gun) 51%

That's why gun control is a loser for us.

[MrPerson]

1. How do we enforce the law against the guy that did it yesterday?

He killed himself.

[Buck Laser]

3. Would armed students have helped against Charles Whitman, whe

shot some twenty students on the University of Texas campus in 1966? He was shooting from a tower several hundred feet hight. The gun freaks seem to be trying to turn every shooting incident into an occasion for wanting more guns. FREAKY!

By the way, I'm a gun owner, but I see no conflict whatever with logical restrictions on where and why guns may be carried. I sure as hell wouldn't go into a bar where I knew people were carrying.

[spin]

2. The pro-gun voters didn't show up for McCain...

as he was viewed by many gun owners as the Republican Lieberman.

Before he became the nominee of the Republican Party, McCain was not highly rated by the NRA. In 2004 McCain got a C+ rating from the NRA.

Democrat New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson got an A rating from the NRA.

But the Democratic Party is waking up and realizing that gun control is a losing issue.

Bad News First

NRA A-graded Republicans had a 73.8% win rate in the 2008 Congressional elections (155 of 210). Among the NRA endorsed, A-graded Republicans, there was an 85.0% success rate (153 or 180). NRA A-graded, non-endorsed R candidates had a 6.7% win rate (2 of 30), but 11 of these lost to A-graded Democrats.

**********snip*********

Some Good News

A-graded Democrat candidates had an 86.2% win rate (56 of 65). Of NRA endorsed, A-graded Democrats, 52 of 55 won election (94.5%), including all 5 A+ rated. Of the three losses, one lost to a grade-A Republican. The other two lost to Republicans graded “AQ.”
http://www.newswithviews.com/Nemerov/howard109.htm

[corruptmewithpower]

4. Anti-gunners don't know their own history.

The Racist Origins of US Gun Control

Laws Designed To Disarm Slaves, Freedmen, And African-Americans
http://www.lizmichael.com/racistgc.htm

Gun Control: White Man's Law

http://www.guncite.com/journals/gun_control_wtr8512.html