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Town Hall Gun Talk Changes Minds
CNN’s Town Hall meeting with President Obama on the subject of guns in America was a snooze-fest. However, despite the event doing little to achieve common ground among the studio audience in attendance, national opinion suggests the country is ready for greater gun control.
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With the Republican-led Congress opposed to any and all changes on existing gun laws, President Obama said he will use executive action to strengthen gun safety. His plan includes better background checks, mental health treatment for those too challenged to own a gun, as well as forward thinking ideas on gun safety technology.
For years, the Republican Party and the NRA have propelled fears among gun owners that President Obama is coming to take their guns away (despite how impossible it would be to collect millions of guns from Alaska to Florida). So they say no to any executive actions, but the American public says yes.
According to a new CNN/ORC poll, 67% of Americans say they are in favor of the changes President Obama has proposed (which is up from 48%), while 32% oppose them (which is down from 51%). Plans to expand background checks to cover more gun purchases made online or at gun shows, as well as plans to make it easier for the FBI to complete background checks efficiently, has cut across party lines. Interestingly, 85% of Democrats, 65% of Independents and 51% of Republicans are in favor of Mr. Obama’s ideas.
This national response to the president’s executive action is surprising, particularly after the obvious disconnect among the live audience during the live Town Hall event.
President Obama is perhaps one of the greatest orators of our generation. However, the Commander-In-Chief appeared ill-prepared for the “no format” Town Hall discussion. He frequently stumbled over his statements, turned simple questions into professorial retorts and even seemed to outright avoid some questions. Despite being extended an invitation, the National Rifle Association (which is located less than 1 mile from the Town Hall studio) refused to attend and was a no-show. As for the studio audience, the evenly attended split between gun supporters and gun opponents were already cemented in their beliefs and unwilling to hear an alternate opinion. Needless to say, emotions were high.
PRESIDENT OBAMA CRIES OVER GUN VIOLENCE DEATHS
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Perhaps the greatest points of contention were how background checks will prevent criminals from obtaining guns illegally, and how unarmed Americans will be able to protect themselves when police are not there to do it for them. However, unless the country is willing to return to the days of the “Wild, Wild West” and are prepared for a string of shootouts, with guns blazing and bullets flying anywhere and at any time, something has to be done.
Most of the actions “are not controversial or problematic from a legal stand point,” according to John Malcolm of the conservative Heritage Foundation.
“Asking for additional resources from Congress is not controversial. Asking U.S. Attorneys to focus their prosecutorial resources on going after the worst of the worst is not controversial. Asking the FBI to try to improve the background check data system (NICS) is not only non-controversial it will be a very welcome thing,” Malcolm added.
As President Obama said, better background checks may not be THE answer, but at least it’s a start in the right direction.
TAKE OUR POLL:
Good topic DJ and great assessment of the President's performance. .
My response is in two parts.
Part I
First: I couldn't agree with DJ more. Pres. Obama "appeared "ill-prepared for the "no format" Town Hall discussion. He frequently stumbled over his statements, turned simple questions into professorial retorts and even seemed to outright avoid some questions."
I don't question his heart (sincerity) on this issue. I do however, wish he had stepped up a lot sooner in his presidency and put forth real effort to tackle it by having several towhall meetings across the country over time (televised or not) in order to:
1. have open, and honest and substantive discussions about gun-violence in America.
2. increase public awareness of the actual cost..Human cost…to us as a society using current and credible data …i.e., as per the CD, in 2013, firearms were used in 84,258 gun-related Non-fatal injuries (26.65 per 100,000 U.S. citizens) and 11,208 deaths by homicide (3.5 per 100,000), 21,175 by suicide with a firearm, 505 deaths due to accidental discharge of a firearm, and 281 deaths due to firearms-use with "undetermined intent, for a total of 33,169 deaths related to firearms (excluding firearm deaths due to legal intervention). 1.3% of all deaths in the country were related to Guns […]
3. give a real listen to the concerns of those Americans who fear he's trying to take away their guns. Seize the opportunity to DISPEL that LIE, face-to-face.
4. and grow support among most Americans for sensible gun-control measures.
Unfortunately, the President failed to take any proactive steps.
Thankfully, it appears the majority of American people are finally ready for sensible updated gun-control measures.
We shall see what happens……
For nearly a century after, its founding in 1871, the National Rifle Association was among America’s foremost pro-gun control organizations. It was not until 1977 when the NRA that Americans know today emerged, after libertarians who equated owning a gun with the epitome of freedom and fomented widespread distrust against government—if not armed insurrection—emerged after staging a hostile leadership coup. […] Steven Rosenfeld, Jan. 13, 2013
Part II
Over the weekend I stumbled across a few really informative commentaries posted online regarding the history of the NRA. Those commentaries brought to my awareness a surprising comment made by the NRA President at the time, Karl T. Frederick, in 1938.
Below is my "mash-up" (blending) of those commentaries.
"The NRA Once Supported Gun Control"
In 1933, Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt, made fighting crime and gun control part of his ‘New Deal.’ The NRA actually HELPED HIM draft the first federal gun controls: 1934’s National Firearms Act and 1938’s Gun Control Act. These laws imposed heavy taxes and restrictions on certain classes of firearms—machine guns, silencers, and sawed-off shotguns—and forced gun sellers to register with the federal government.
The NRA President at the time, Karl T. Frederick, a 1920 Olympic gold-medal winner for marksmanship who became a lawyer, praised the new state gun controls in Congress. He testified before the 1938 law was passed:
"I have never believed in the general practice of carrying weapon. I do not believe in the general promiscuous toting of guns. I think it should be sharply restricted and only under licenses.”
This statement was not an exception, but the general consensus of those within the association for the majority of its existence. Founded after the Civil War by two Union soldiers, the NRA’s original intent was to improve the marksmanship of soldiers. Their motto, unchanged until 1977, read: Firearms Safety Education, Marksmanship Training, Shooting for Recreation. To that end, the passing of sensible gun restrictions was in no way at odds with the group’s longstanding objectives.
In 1977, thirty years after the landmark federal legislation passed, the Black Panthers began raising eyebrows in California for walking around armed. In response, Robert Mulford, a Republican Assemblyman from Oakland, proposed banning the open carrying of loaded guns in California, calling it an “act of violence or near violence.” The Mulford Act, passed in 1967, enjoyed the full support of both the NRA and Ronald Reagan, who the association would eventually endorse for president.
The NRA’s shift from a mainstream, apolitical marksmanship association to its current form happened literally overnight. In a watershed moment now known as the Revolt in Cincinnati, hardline gun advocates, upset by the NRA’s past endorsement of gun restrictions, ousted the full leadership of the organization through parliamentary rules.
From The Washington Post‘s description of that evening:
"The Old Guard was caught by surprise. The NRA officers sat up front, on a dais, observing their demise. The organization, about a century old already, was thoroughly mainstream and bipartisan, focusing on hunting, conservation and marksmanship. It taught Boy Scouts how to shoot safely. But the world had changed, and everything was more political now. The rebels saw the NRA leaders as elites who lacked the heart and conviction to fight against gun-control legislation."
That same night, the NRA’s executive director changed the organization’s motto to its current form: The Right Of The People To Keep And Bear Arms Shall Not Be Infringed. They embarked, almost immediately, on efforts to funnel money to pro-gun political campaigns. Their signature magazine, American Rifleman, began printing long essays on the inflexibility of the 2nd amendment, something it had scarcely mentioned in thousands of previous issues. […]
Sources: Salon.com, The Daily Beast, Alternet