One nation under gun sense
Italk to people about guns a lot. As a pollster for races across the nation, and often in traditional “gun country” states like Montana and West Virginia, there is no avoiding the issue on the campaign trail. Often, well-meaning campaign staff and insiders are wary of the subject, hoping to avoid it, explaining that “guns are hard in our state.” We hear it all the time: “guns are hard in New Hampshire, guns are hard Arizona, guns are hard . . . everywhere.”
But the truth is, the American public has evolved far faster than the political class when it comes to gun laws. Go to any focus group in states with the highest gun ownership rates in this country, and you’ll hear avid hunters, Second Amendment-supporting voters, proclaim that protecting their right to bear arms is a huge priority for them — while at the same time, they are exasperated with the politicians who can’t seem to make any progress on doing more to prevent gun violence.
They scoff at the argument that assault weapons are needed for hunting (“only if you’re a bad shot”), laugh out loud at the notion that silencers should be deregulated to protect hearing, and are deeply confused by any objection to closing the gun show or internet sale loophole or preventing those on the terror watch list from legally buying a gun.
Americans can, in fact, hold two truths at the same time: You can support the Second Amendment and support stronger efforts to reduce the number of people killed and injured by guns.
Take, for instance, a Quinnipiac University poll released last week that found 94% of Americans support requiring background checks on all gun buyers. Among people who live in homes with guns, the figure is 92%.
The poll comes shortly after the Pew Research Center released a survey that showed — as does a growing body of research — that Americans have advanced beyond the ideological zero-sum game that often characterizes this debate: they support common-sense gun safety laws, while at the same time strongly supporting the Second Amendment.
The response to Pew’s opening question about whether “it is more important to protect the right of Americans to own guns, or to control gun ownership” shows a positive trend over past surveys toward gun sense. This year, the results revealed a 52-46 margin, closer than in the past.
However, the question presents a false dichotomy too often resorted to in this debate. Americans don’t need to choose between protecting gun rights and supporting gun safety — the two go hand in hand. My friend and client, Montana governor Steve Bullock, says it best: “I am a defender of the right to bear arms, without abandoning common sense.”
America agrees — and that becomes overwhelmingly clear in the responses to Pew’s subsequent questions on specific gun policies.
The Pew survey found that a majority of Americans (52%) believe gun laws should be stricter than they are today. The survey also found an overwhelming majority — 92% — believe there should be at least some restrictions on who can legally own guns.
The survey also illuminates some of the more complex policies that influence gun culture and guns in public places and who can carry hidden, loaded guns. Eighty-one percent of Americans oppose allowing people to carry concealed guns without a permit — a strong indicator of American opposition to the NRA’s top federal priority: socalled “concealed carry reciprocity,” which would gut our gun laws by making the laws of the laxest states govern the whole nation.
As a pollster, I understand the nuance in question language and style and the importance of asking the same questions over time. American voters strongly support safer gun policies, and this support is with respect to the rights protected by the Second Amendment, not in opposition to it.
Now is the time to listen to the voters and not the political rhetoric that too often clouds progress. The latest results from Pew and from Quinnipiac tell the truth about America’s feeling and attitudes towards guns — and shows the possibilities for the best of both worlds: respect for the Second Amendment along with common-sense gun safety standards.