“Majorities Still Back Stricter Gun Laws, Assault Weapons Ban,” Gallup claimed Monday in a synopsis of its Oct. 1-12 Crime poll. “Support for a ban on handguns in the U.S. has dropped to a near-record low.”
56% want more gun control. 52% want an “assault weapon” ban. But only 20% want a handgun ban.
That last bit sounds like a bright spot, and we’ll get back to it. But before we do, we ought to look at who the respondents were and what they were being asked — and also examine if the questions were fair ones that considered what those polled actually knew as opposed to what they believed because it’s what they’ve been told by political, media, and activist influencers with a vested interest.
To begin that process, there’s a “View complete question responses and trends” link at the end of the article where readers can download a pdf of the poll.
“Results are based on telephone interviews … with a random sample of –1,023—adults, ages 18+, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia,” we are told. Results are based on a sample of 930 registered voters and 367 gun owners, with sampling error margins of +4% and + 6% respectively. They’re “weighted to match the national demographics of gender, age, race, Hispanic ethnicity, education, region, population density, and phone status (cell phone-only/landline only/both and cell phone mostly),” and include “interviews conducted in Spanish for respondents who are primarily Spanish-speaking.” Not mentioned in the abstract is political party affiliation, although that is tabulated in the detailed data breakdowns.
What’s unclear is how many people had to be called before Gallup found the people willing to submit to its survey, and, importantly, how many are willing to truthfully admit to a stranger that they have a gun, especially if living in a state that threatens gun owners. Also not factored into the poll – and never mentioned when such results are used to influence public policy – is respondent knowledge and qualifications to provide informed answers. That makes using resulting data to “inform” legislation demonstrably irresponsible and dangerous.
Let’s look at the questions.
“In general, do you feel that the laws covering the sale of firearms should be made more strict, less strict or kept as they are now?”
What does that respondent know about laws that already exist at federal, state, and local levels? Has that person considered arguments for and against the laws, including whether or not they will produce the results proponents claim, and if they’re consistent with the Second Amendment and with settled law?
“Do you think there should or should not be a ban on the manufacture, possession and sale of semiautomatic guns, known as assault rifles?”
The flawed question presupposes that “semiautomatic guns” are “assault rifles.” Does the respondent even know what either is? Does he or she know that according to the government’s own statistics, more people are killed with fists and feet than with all rifles, of which semiautos with politically disfavored features are but a fraction?
“Do you think there should or should not be a law that would ban the possession of handguns, except by the police and other authorized persons?”
Yes, some still buy into the “Only Ones” fallacy. One can only wonder at the 20% who answered in the affirmative, and if it’s safe to assume that no amount of warnings about the futility of prohibition at doing anything but incentivizing crime, and the greater danger of a state that has the power to impose this, would make a dent in their “thinking.”
The overwhelming majority rejecting the idea is encouraging, especially considering that banning handguns was the ultimate goal of the modern “gun control” movement. Per Nelson “Pete” Shields, back when Brady was still called Handgun Control, Inc.:
“The final problem is to make possession of all handguns and all handgun ammunition-except for the military, police, licensed security guards, licensed sporting clubs, and licensed gun collectors-totally illegal.”
“A majority of Americans have an appetite for stricter gun laws in the U.S., and that includes an assault weapons ban — but not a ban on handguns,” Gallup concludes it its “Botton Line,” and even that simple summation is false. Nowhere in the poll is it indicated if all of the respondents are citizens, an issue exemplified by the last census including foreign nationals and affecting the assignment of Congressional districts and the political power shift that arises from that.
“For now, gun policy does not rank highly among the most important problems on Americans’ minds,” the summary concludes, disregarding that the topic won’t show up in polls where such questions aren’t asked, that none measure the intensity of gun owner commitment, and ignoring what the world has just seen in Donald Trump’s landslide electoral victory rejecting the Harris/Walz disarmament agenda.
Democrat prognosticators whose careers are based on “lies, damned lies, and statistics,” are now licking their wounds, making excuses, and doubling down on further alienating Americans who rejected their intolerant identity politics and undisguised lust for control.
While much of this latest poll can be seen as equivalent to one of YouTuber Mark Dice’s comedic Man on the Street interviews highlighting the stunning (conditioned) ignorance of random Americans, it’s nonetheless useful in showing gun owners where we have work to do.
We need to continue our efforts in educating our countrymen on why THEIR right to keep and bear arms is important, and why attempts to infringe on it via political choices, laws, and lawfare threatens them and their children. We can do this as individuals, by sharing information to those within our spheres of influence, and by supporting “gun rights” groups with outreach efforts. And there’s one other thing we can do:
Let politicians who we supported know we expect them to use their bully pulpits to promote the Second Amendment, that it’s not just something to campaign on and then put back on the shelf until next time. And that includes Donald Trump. (I have a Firearms News article coming out soon that expands on that idea and I’ll update this column with a link when it is posted.)
About David Codrea:
David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating/defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. He blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” is a regularly featured contributor to Firearms News, and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.
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