Gun owners know the real firepower

We hear plenty of stories about the power of the NRA, about how the organization supposedly showers money on the politicians that are unwavering on gun rights. But a new study bolsters the contention that the real power of the organization rests in the commitment — and political involvement — of its membership.

And it’s a contention that all citizens, regardless of cause or inclination, should consider carefully.

Political scientists at the University of Kansas recently released a study they says that gun owners are more politically active, including in their voting, than are those who don’t own guns.

To that we say, more power to the gun owners. Now, we have long advocated here for more control over guns, particularly the high-powered semi-automatic rifles that seem to be the weapon of choice in mass shootings.

We have advocated for universal background checks and for a ban on weapons and accessories that simply have no place in civilian hands.

That debate is not going to be resolved or further prosecuted here at this time.

The study found that over the last 40 years, significantly more gun owners were politically active and voted in presidential elections than those who did not own guns.

Data used in the study did not include the 2016 presidential election. It found, though, that in the 2012 election, 72 percent of gun owners voted, compared with 61 percent of non-gun owners.

“This modern gun-owner identify includes a conception of gun owners as people who take direct action to ensure their beliefs match behavior,” the study’s authors wrote.

“Thus the gun owner’s self-mobilization makes her more likely to participate in all forms of politics.

Add to that the belief that gun-control leaning politicians are trying to take away their constitutional right, and the formula is there for a muscular presence at the polls and in other arenas of political strife.

The basic finding simply reaffirms the power of the right to vote. It reaffirms the worth of organizing, whether by single-issue advocacy groups, whatever the issue, and by grassroots organizing in neighborhoods.

At the end of the day, the individuals who convert the effort and belief in their work into ballots cast on Election Day are going to carry the day, as it should be.

“We vote because every single day in this country politicians threaten to take away our constitutional right to self-defense,” said Catherine Mortensen, a spokesperson for the NRA. We reject that as hyperbole. But we will not take issue with the fact that citizens, whatever their cause, organize and make their presence known at the polls, which is at the heart of the American way.

We encourage people on both sides of this issue, and others, to mobilize and recognize, as gun owners do, apparently, that the way to maintain any legal lifestyle is to fight for it on Election Day.

At the end of the day, the individuals who convert the effort and belief in their work into ballots cast on Election Day are going to carry the day, as it should be.