DECLINING POPULARITY FOR GUN CONTROL

By Bob Barr

If anyone in the Obama campaign is considering using gun control
as an issue in next year’s campaign, the Republican Party should
encourage them with a sizable donation. The latest national-issues
poll from the Gallup organization confirms what Barack Obama’s two
unsuccessful predecessors found out the hard way — a strong
majority of American voters do not favor gun control and will prove
it with their votes.

The Gallup survey reflects not a sudden spike in support for firearms rights,
but rather the culmination of a generational effort by the National Rifle Association
and other organizations to reacquaint Americans with the Constitution.

For example, a half century ago, according to a 1959 survey, more
than half of all citizens — 60 % — supported an outright ban on
handguns. That sentiment plus the 1968 assassination of Robert Kennedy
led to Congress passing the first national gun control law of the modern
era in 1968. That act, however, served as a wake-up call to millions
of Americans who understood that the right to keep and bear arms — enshrined
in the Bill of Rights as the Second Amendment — protected a fundamental right,
but one that clearly was susceptible to being undermined by politicians.

Now, according to the Gallup poll, a record-low percentage of
Americans — just 26% — support a handgun ban, while nearly three-
quarters (73%) oppose such a measure. The survey also found that
more than half the population — 53% — opposes more restrictive
laws against semiautomatic firearms and so-called “assault weapons.”

Ownership of firearms is rising as well — among those who identify
themselves as Democrats as well as Republicans. According to the
survey, nearly half of all Americans (47%) say they have a gun in
their home. This represents a six-point jump from just one year ago,
and is the highest since the mid-1990s. The partisan divide on the
issue is steadily shrinking, as 55% of Republicans and 40% of
Democrats (up eight points from 2010), acknowledge having
firearms in their homes.

Numbers such as reflected in this non-partisan Gallup survey
essentially guarantee that any attempt this cycle to move the
electorate based on a “gun control” agenda would be suicidal —
particularly considering the flack the Obama administration
continues to receive over the botched ATF operation commonly
known as “Fast and Furious.”

Such broad opposition to gun control, however, has not prevented
political leaders at the local level from trying to deny citizens
within their jurisdictions the full benefit of the Second Amendment’s
guarantee and it is not only New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg
who is involved in such efforts.