Important Senate Democrats Wavering on Gun Control

Mr. Eddington

Published: January 24, 2013Posted in: Losing LibertyTags:

The New York Times is reporting that Democratic senators from conservative states are under considerable pressure from constituents angry over the possibility of a ban on modern sporting rifles:

BECKLEY, W.Va. — Talk of stricter gun control has stirred up a lot of unease here, a place where hunters vie for top prize (a 26-inch LED television) in the Big Buck Photo Contest, and ads for a gun-simulator game ask, “Feel like shooting something today?”

Businessmen and community leaders in Beckley, W.Va., met with Senator Joe Manchin III last week to discuss gun control.But before Senator Joe Manchin III invited a group of 15 businessmen and community leaders to lunch last week to discuss the topic, he had only a vague idea of how anxious many of his supporters were.

“How many of you all believe that there is a movement to take away the Second Amendment?” he asked.

About half the hands in the room went up.

I’ve been saying for a while that I just don’t see a new assault weapons ban in the cards politically. People on the Left saw Sandy Hook as a game changer, but they failed to recognize two things:

1) The popularity of guns like the AR-15 has exploded in the last decade, with millions of Americans using ARs for hunting, target shooting, competition, and home defense. The AR-15, a relatively uncommon rifle when I was growing up, has become mainstream among shooters. When Diane Feinstein talks about banning ARs she is threatening the rights of millions of people, not just a few social outcasts and hillbillies like myself.

2) The power of the gun rights movement has grown since the 1990s because gun culture has been spreading far and wide among people who defy the stereotype of what a gun rights supporter is supposed to be. Just as an anecdote, when I go to the NRA Headquarters Range in Fairfax I see blacks, whites, and Asians all shooting together—not just overweight white guys in John Deere hats. The culture of shooting, including its accompanying political and social mantras, has infiltrated new communities. Part of this I suspect is the product of a calculated effort by the NRA and other organizations to grow the shooting sports. I’ve also suspected for a while that the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have something to do with it as well. I’ve met a lot of veterans who became involved in guns and gun culture while serving in the military. They then take those interests and attitudes home with them after they leave the service. Just take a look at what sort of products have been popular at Shot Show. Many have been military-inspired because that is what the market wants right now. In no small part because our shooting culture has been influenced by an influx of veterans and an understandable interest among civilian shooters in the conflict “over there.”

The bottom line is that the Left has overplayed its hand. Democrats in red states are the canary in the coal mine for gun control legislation. If they are already starting to fold before the main battle is even joined this is obviously a great sign for us. The next question then is whether Feinstein, Pelosi, Schumer and other true believers will get the message. After all, we are talking about people who spend most of their time floating about in the liberal bubble world of the DC beltway and the rest of their time talking with constituents who believe “The Day After Tomorrow” was a documentary and that Paul Krugman is the cobra emperor of intellectuals (i.e. grown in a lab from the DNA of famous, but long dead liberal thinkers).

Somehow I think the liberal elite will convince themselves that the letters they get from San Francisco librarians, DC non-profit workers, and Manhattan hipsters actually reflect the national sentiment on gun control. If so, they are headed for a Little Big Horn political moment.

About the Author

I'm a political analyst by vocation, but not of the sort of politics I'm looking at on this site. Having had the good fortune of experiencing a number of foreign countries, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that the USA is the only place for me. Although it may not seem like it sometimes, this country is still the freest, and hence the greatest on Earth. However, I worry that some of the rights and freedoms I value are under threat, so I started this site to blow off some steam and air some of my views in the hope of starting a conversation with other people out there. I'd love to hear what you think about my ideas even if you don't agree with them.

11 comments on “Important Senate Democrats Wavering on Gun Control”

rob kalb on January 25, 2013 at 8:46 pm said:

I think the ferocious defense of guns is because gun right defenders refuse to be brought into total dependency on or submission to – government. Guns, themselves are only a concrete demonstration the rights of Man.
Scott M on January 25, 2013 at 9:02 pm said:

Remember how ObamaCare wasn’t going to pass because The Blue Dog Democrats would never tolerate gov’t funding for abortion? It passed and they are gone now.

Obama and the neo-Marxists are not just willing to drive out a party member who is not a neo-Marxist, that is required for their plans to make progress. Doubt any Democrat that claims he will resist Obama if the vote for gun-control ever happens. The one thing Democrats are these days is loyal to the party.

Do not confuse media stories that suggest a Democrat won’t support Obama for an actual vote against Obama in the future. Many of these stories are meant to suggest to us some Democrat disagrees with Obama. We then infer said Democrat won’t vote for gun-control. And we then layoff on the first Democrat and focus our attention on some other Democrat.
Georgiaboy61 on January 25, 2013 at 11:19 pm said:

Re: “Just as an anecdote, when I go to the NRA Headquarters Range in Fairfax I see blacks, whites, and Asians all shooting together—not just overweight white guys in John Deere hats.”

Mr. Eddington, I appreciate your spirited defense of the Second Amendment, but – speaking as a middle-aged while guy from the south – I could have done without the tasteless putdown of my demographic group. Why is it that so many writers nowadays feel the need to genuflect to the “gods of diversity” at each and every turn, taking a cheap shot at everybody’s favorite all-purpose whipping boy – southern white males – along the way? Your article would have been just fine without the cheap shots – so why include them?
Patrick Masterson on January 26, 2013 at 7:14 am said:

I believe our rights are eroding faster than the stock market, between the cops and intrusive technology we’re screwed! The crooked bastards won’t be satisfied until we’re completely defenseless and dependant upon them…got work?
Mr. Eddington on January 26, 2013 at 7:21 am said:

Sorry Georgiaboy I didn’t mean to put down Southern white males, especially since I am one. I’m not originally from the DC area. I grew up in southern Appalachia. Anyway, the reference to whites, blacks, and Asians shooting together was simply a way of noting that the demographics of the shooting community have changed, for the better in my view. There is, unfortunately, a stereotype of angry southern white males as shooters. As you noted, that community is an easy target. In noting the diversity of the shooting community I’m hoping we can better guard ourselves against the charge that our reverence for gun rights is a manifestation of some collective WASP paranoia about the growth of non-white demographic groups.
Mr. Eddington on January 26, 2013 at 7:46 am said:

Those are really good points, but this issue seems like a different kettle of fish to me. Obamacare galvanized certain parts of the conservative movement, but I don’t recall as much discussion of civil disobedience and armed insurrection as I’m hearing now. I’m not trying to be facetious here. You know as well as I do that there is a tremendous rage and a revulsion at the prospect of a new assault weapons ban out there that could get real ugly, real fast if the Feinstein bill were ever passed. Moderate Dems in purple states are scared because they are witnessing the early effects of this sentiment.

They have people picketing outside their offices, berating them in town halls, and clogging their phone lines to express their outrage over the Administration’s attack on the Second Amendment. Moreover, they remember barely surviving the 2010 GOP congressional resurgence. This last point is an important one. The Dems found out what it meant to follow the White House’s instructions over their own political instincts. And if the 2010 episode weren’t enough, it is still conventional wisdom among he Dems that the 94 ban was instrumental in returning the GOP to dominance in Congress. Although some progressives are attempting to reinvent history and convince the Dems that the NRA is a paper tiger, the tidal wave of calls, faxes, letters, and emails Democrats are receiving from irate gun owners has probably convinced them of the absurdity of that notion.

I will certainly concede that the “blue dog” Democrat is an endangered species and that the Dems have been largely lockstep behind the White House, but there are some powerful incentives for them to rethink that loyalty in this case.
Mr. Eddington on January 26, 2013 at 7:47 am said:

I couldn’t agree more and that is one reason they frustrate progressives who trust government action and judgment over that of individuals.
TheCtYankee on January 26, 2013 at 8:17 am said:

Excellent article; very insightful. I only hope you are correct in your belief the leftards will suffer a legislative defeat because on one point you are spot on: things could get real ugly real fast if Feinstein & Co are successful in abridging the Bill of Rights. The dems caused us to fight among ourselves once before and we all know how that turned out. Personally, I refer to the dems as the party of slavery, sedition, segregation, sloth, socialism and now, stupidity…and, precisely in that order.
highway on January 26, 2013 at 10:33 am said:

hey Rob …. “submission” to the government? so you would have us be sheep for the wolf to watch over? what a stupid statement. you are damn right we will not trust the government completely and just submit with no voice. that is WHY we have the 2nd amendment … partly to protect ourselves against the government should they try to become tyrants like we were under with England!
crackermike on January 26, 2013 at 10:52 am said:

There will be a number of Senate straw proposals to allow red state Democrat senators to vote against “gun control”, to fool the rubes. Then, on the important vote to actually implement registration, restriction and confiscation, they can do as Obama damn well tells them too…. Add to this the fact of Obama’s lie to not raise taxes on “working families”, and the threatened confiscation of arms and you have an exact analog to the 1st American Revolution. The elements are all there, The Stamp Act (tax increases), the Boston Tea Party (tea party protestors)and the Red Coats attempt to seize powder and ball (confiscation). I’m afraid Obama is instigating violence on Racial, Ethnic, Sexual and Economic fronts to legitimize his elimination of Constitutional Rights. The real looser will be Obama. I foresee widespread, outright, deeply felt, massive Civil Disobedience. People will simply and proudly refuse to comply with illegal “laws” and the Government will either be forced to cease and desist or slaughter Citizens on a much greater scale than Waco or Ruby Ridge. Obama, Napolitano and Holder may actually try that.
richard40 on January 27, 2013 at 10:37 pm said:

Dont get too complacent. The dems will trade away the assault weapons ban, for a “compromise” banning magazines over 10 and requiring intrusive background checks for private gun sales, along with appropriate fees and gun registration. As a result of this “compromise” our gun freedoms will be eroded, and the groundwork laid for further erosion and eventual confiscation. We can accept nothing less than total victory on this one, total victory being defined as no new regulations on guns whatsoever. Better yet, punish the dems for even bringing it up by passing a law to allow teachers to be armed in schools. The only acceptable outcome here is for Obama and the leftists to rue the day they ever dared to even bring gun control up.