The comments following Michael Moore's comment are... very cool. I liked especially the one from Jon Plowman.
Once America decided that the mass murder of children by weapons available over the counter in American stores was acceptable, there was no more debate.
It seems to me that by doing nothing, by default we have earned the right to be shot on our way to the grocery store.
In addition to the numbers Moore cites, there are also these folks:
[....] This is my reality as a gun owner: I use guns for an activity I love, but I also worry about gun violence. Like most Americans, I want stronger gun laws such as nationwide universal background checks. I don’t support the National Rifle Association, which seems as if it’s just a few years away from arguing that the Second Amendment guarantees our right to buy nuclear warheads. (On Thursday the N.R.A. did make a rare concession, suggesting that a federal agency reconsider the legality of devices like those used by the Las Vegas shooter to make semiautomatic weapons fire almost as rapidly as automatic ones.) I’m not alone in this position: Approximately 90 percent of gun owners do not belong to the N.R.A. [....]
and then throw these numbers on top of that, from a comment on that op-ed; while one can't trust the commenter's citation as completely accurate, the gist of it is the takeaway point:
I came across an interesting fact somewhere recently, that only 3% of gun owners own 50% of the guns. If true that means that a tiny minority of the population is controlling the gun debate because they are pumping in the most money into the gun industry. That's how politics works. Whomever pays more gets more [....]
Edit to add: The founders surely did not intend this to be "how politics works"!
I'm not exactly sure what percentage of gun owners support gun control but it's a huge majority, 80ish%. The problem is that 80% doesn't vote on gun control. It's not high on their list of priorities. For the 20% that will accept no gun control legislation at all that's the only issue they vote on. The NRA speaks for those single issue voters. That's where their power comes from.
Comments
The comments following Michael Moore's comment are... very cool. I liked especially the one from Jon Plowman.
It seems to me that by doing nothing, by default we have earned the right to be shot on our way to the grocery store.
by wabby on Sun, 10/08/2017 - 9:19am
In addition to the numbers Moore cites, there are also these folks:
from a guest NYT op-ed from a woman gun owner and mother of young kids: Confessions of a Sensible Gun Owner
So the power that the N.R.A. argument has is truly mystifying and, yes, if one looks at it objectively: simply amazing.
by artappraiser on Sun, 10/08/2017 - 9:54am
and then throw these numbers on top of that, from a comment on that op-ed; while one can't trust the commenter's citation as completely accurate, the gist of it is the takeaway point:
Edit to add: The founders surely did not intend this to be "how politics works"!
by artappraiser on Sun, 10/08/2017 - 10:20am
I'm not exactly sure what percentage of gun owners support gun control but it's a huge majority, 80ish%. The problem is that 80% doesn't vote on gun control. It's not high on their list of priorities. For the 20% that will accept no gun control legislation at all that's the only issue they vote on. The NRA speaks for those single issue voters. That's where their power comes from.
by ocean-kat on Sun, 10/08/2017 - 12:09pm