So, “we’re” winning? If you listen to some “gun pundits,” this shows the tide is turning and gives gun owners cause to celebrate. The enthusiasm would be more credible if there were some believable numbers showing new gun ownership will translate into votes against Democrats, the party of citizen disarmament, in enough numbers to eject the gun-grabbers from power and replace them with Second Amendment stalwarts. [More]
Harvey Keitel’s NSFW “Well, let’s not start ******* **** *****’* ***** quite yet” line from Pulp Fiction comes to mind.
Record background checks does not a political sea change make. NICS has been repeatedly setting year-over-year records since before Obama was elected, barely leveling off while Trump was in office.
Likewise, record “new gun owners” does not necessarily indicate change is coming, unless they’re also willing to vote against Democrats in record numbers.
Unless and until that happens, the controllers in Congress — mostly Democrats — will see “record new gun owners” claims and decide they have to pass something to stem that tide NOW. You just know they have the bills written already; they just need an impetus to file and introduce them, and — absent some new “mass shooting” crisis to not let go to waste — “record new gun owners” could be it.
All told, proponents of freedom might be in a much more delicate situation than they realize.
Great article!
OTOH, “something” yet to be determined, or maybe an aggregate of “somethings” is trending Trump’s polling numbers up, and Brandon’s polling numbers down in the very same groups where gun ownership is trending up as well.
To start out with, those first time purchasers found out that “easier to buy an assault weapon than ibuprofen” was a lie when they filled out that 4473 and waited for their “instant check” to clear.
Once they overcome their initial trepidation, after a few trips to the range, they might find out that putting holes in paper is fun. If you’re at the range and a “Nervous Nellie” in the next lane is struggling with some of the basics, stop what you’re doing for a few moments and politely get them back on the right track. They may realize that their fellow gun owners are ordinary folks and that Hillary’s “basket of deplorables” rant was another lie. Maybe they’ll start thinking anew about their long association with a party of chronic liars.
Like the punch line of the old NSFW joke, we don’t need to pull away all of the Democratic party’s base. We just need to loosen enough of it to win.
The certainty some people on the conservative side cling to of the chips falling in their favor with not a finger needing to be lifted, such as with all their “new gun owner friends” is a weakness that demands for criticism.