https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2017/07/robert-farago/trace-nras-campaign-cultural-warfare-working/
The Trace: ‘The NRA’s Campaign of Cultural Warfare is Working’
Robert Farago
July 20, 2017
Michael Bloomberg’s civilian disarmament propagandists at The Trace can’t
help but tell the truth about guns — on occasion. Guns Are Driving American
Voters Further Apart cites new research from Social Sciences Quarterly that
concludes . . .
Since the 1970s, possessing a firearm increases the likelihood of voting for
Republican candidates . . . we find that the impact of gun ownership on the
likelihood of voting for a Republican candidate increased across elections,
reaching a level in 2012 nearly 50 percent higher than in 1972.
For once, The Trace gets the analysis right.
As the authors note, guns carry an enormous amount of symbolism for
Americans of all stripes. To those who own them, firearms can stand for
freedom, security, vigor, and masculinity. To those who don’t, they can
signify violence, hierarchy, brute force, and indifference to society.
“We contend that the gun debate reflects a far broader conflict concerning
competing conceptions of ideology and culture,” the paper reads.
My takeaway: gun ownership is an inherently political act. In fact, it’s a
transformative political act. The more Americans who own guns, the safer our
Constitutional republic will be. Without a shot fired.
Needless to say, The Trace’s Alex Yablon isn’t paid to doesn’t see it that
way. He sees the study’s results as proof that the NRA’s flag-waving
sh*t-stirring is effective.
It’s a conflict that the National Rifle Association, the self-appointed
leader of gun culture, goes to great lengths to foment. The group’s
political messaging is rife with appeals to cultural solidarity, values, and
antipathy to those deemed enemies of freedom — the mainstream media,
academics, Women’s Marchers — even if those targets have little to do with
firearms. In this framework, Democratic candidates aren’t just gun-grabbers;
they’re existential threats.
The problem being? “Right wing” gun owners block “common sense gun control.”
The irony is that while Americans may be drifting further apart when it
comes to the politics of gun control, there’s a surprising amount of
consensus on many aspects of policy.
Last month, pollsters at Pew found high levels of support across party
lines, even among gun owners, for universal background checks on firearms
transfers, as well as preventing gun possession by the mentally ill and
those barred from flying under suspicion of terrorism.
Americans, gun-owning or otherwise, also broadly oppose allowing the
carrying of concealed weapons without a permit.
Citation for that last one?
Never mind. The battle lines (so to speak) couldn’t be any clearer. Gun
rights advocates must get the message out on civilian disarmament measures
posing as “sensible solutions” and convert as many gun muggles to firearms
ownership as possible.