U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)- Once again in the aftermath of a high-profile tragedy involving the psychopathic misuse of a firearm, one political party is at the forefront of efforts to penalize all gun owners while, according to gun rights activists, also exploiting the crime to erode rights protected by the Second Amendment.
One look at popular opinion polls—Rasmussen and Gallup provide good examples—and it is easy to understand why Democrats, who used to be known as the “party of gun control,” are now more quickly identified as the “party of gun prohibition.”
In a commentary opening his program recently on Fox News, conservative commentator Sean Hannity went after Democrats with a scathing monologue.
“We do continue to pray for the families in Uvalde and every other city. They’ll never be the same. Along with the families of murder victims all across the country in major cities like Chicago, Baltimore, L.A., New York. We have dozens of young men and women — our national treasure — shot and killed every single week. But we rarely hear about this kind of violence from Democrats, which is where the political aspect comes in. They only seem to really care about gun violence when it becomes politically expedient for them. Now, keep in mind, almost all of America’s most violent cities have been ruled by Democrats for decades. And every one of those cities has some of the strictest gun control laws in the country.
“Now, for the Left, this isn’t about saving lives or reducing violence. Like always, it is political and it’s an emotional ploy to centralize their power over law-abiding citizens. And by the way, many of them would like to usurp all Second Amendment rights. We’ve got to protect our Constitution and our right to defend ourselves.”—Sean Hannity
CBS News published results of its own poll, and buried in the text was this possibly unintended acknowledgment: “Democrats look for more gun restrictions — including banning AR-15s — and fewer people having guns in general…”
FiveThirtyEight.com pointed to a Pew Research poll from April 2021 that revealed 83 percent of Democratic respondents, but only 37 percent of Republicans “said they ‘strongly’ or ‘somewhat’ favor banning” so-called “assault weapons, “a difference of 46 percentage points.” This particular detail suggests gun owners and rights advocates need to educate Republican voters.
The U.S. House of Representatives just passed—almost entirely along party lines—a “package of gun control legislation,” according to CNN. All but two Democrats voted for it. All but five Republicans voted against it. The two Democrats were Reps. Jared Golden of Maine and Kurt Schrader of Oregon. The five Republicans were identified as Reps. Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio, Fred Upton of Michigan, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Adam Kinzinger of Illinois and Chris Jacobs of New York.
Speaking of New York, the state government has been dominated by Democrats for decades. The state’s onerous concealed carry permit law could be overturned at any moment by the U.S. Supreme Court.
In Illinois, where the legislature has been controlled by Democrats, it took a federal lawsuit by the Second Amendment Foundation and another by the National Rifle Association to force the state to adopt a concealed carry statute. The Prairie State was the last holdout; until the lawsuits, Illinois refused to allow licensed concealed carry.
California is another state with onerous gun control laws, pushed through by dominant Democrats in Sacramento. The state’s ban on semi-auto rifle sales to young adults was recently ruled unconstitutional by a three-judge panel on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
The Oregon Firearms Federation is reporting that State Rep. Lisa Reynolds (D-Portland) has already announced plans for the 2023 Legislative session. A transplant raised in suburban Chicago, according to her biography, Reynolds wants to go after so-called “ghost guns” and close the “Charleston loophole.” OFF quotes from her newsletter: “Of course, we are actively considering a variety of additional measures, including an assault weapons ban, raising the purchase age for all guns to 21, regulating magazine sizes and ammunition, and many other steps.”
Maryland’s ban on so-called “assault rifles” is awaiting a decision by the Supreme Court on whether it will review the ban on constitutional grounds. Twenty-five state attorneys general—all Republicans—sent an amicus brief to the court, urging a high court review.
According to Rasmussen Reports, “Fifty-nine percent (59%) of Democrats don’t believe banning weapons like the AR-15 would violate the Second Amendment, but that belief is shared by only 28% of Republicans and 43% of voters not affiliated with either major party.” The same survey revealed, “More Republicans (52%) than Democrats (32%) or unaffiliated voters (42%) say they or someone in their home owns a gun.” And one more not-so-surprising revelation: “Fewer Democrats (28%) than Republicans or unaffiliated voters (both 36%) say the Second Amendment is most important in guarding against tyranny.”
The aforementioned Pew Research poll also said “80% or more Democrats favor creating a federal database to track gun sales and banning both assault-style weapons and high capacity magazines….”
Gallup recently polled Americans on guns, learning in the process, “Republicans were largely satisfied with gun laws in January (62%), while 21% were dissatisfied and preferred that they be more strict. At the same time, 20% of Democrats were satisfied, and 71% were dissatisfied and wanted laws to be more strict.”
The same Gallup survey found that 40 percent of Democrats favor a ban on handguns, 14 years after the Supreme Court ruled in the Heller case that handguns are protected by the Second Amendment. Only 6 percent of Republicans support such a ban, and 14 percent of Independents would ban handguns.
Compare Joe Biden with Donald Trump. During his presidency, Trump would almost always mention protecting the Second Amendment when he appeared at rallies, and even during his State of the Union addresses. His most lasting legacy may be his federal judicial appointments, including filling three vacancies on the U.S. Supreme Court, a fact which may become fully understood sometime this month when the court will rule on a right-to-carry case out of New York.
Biden, on the other hand, continues misrepresenting history when he tells reporters the Second Amendment didn’t allow some people to own guns, and that when the Bill of Rights was adopted, people couldn’t own cannons. Lately, his references to the Second Amendment come in the midst of his calls to ban the sale of semi-auto rifles and 9mm pistols to private citizens, insisting that wouldn’t violate the right to keep and bear arms.
Only one party is prominent when it comes to proposals about so-called “gun reform” and “gun safety” laws, which invariably focus on restricting the rights of honest gun owners. This pattern is likely to be a major factor in the outcome of the Nov. 8 midterm elections.
About Dave Workman
Dave Workman is a senior editor at TheGunMag.com and Liberty Park Press, author of multiple books on the Right to Keep & Bear Arms, and formerly an NRA-certified firearms instructor.
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