The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - The calls for more gun control are already starting

Webleymkv · July 22, 2012, 12:38 PM

The media reaction is completely expected. Anytime there's shooting that comes to national attention such as Columbine, Virginia Tech, Gabby Giffords, or now Aurora CO, the usual suspects waste little time "dancing in the blood of the victims" and trying to use a tradgedy for their own political gain. This is not the first mass shooting to occur and it won't likely be the last and when it happens again, the Brady's, Bloomberg, Feinstein, Schumer, McCarthy Michael Moore, and the other notable gun-control advocates will almost undoubtedly screech about it again. That's not really what's important though.

What's important is whether or not the screeching about gun control actually resonates with the majority of the American People and it doesn't seem to any longer. Yes, some Senator or Representative from a far-left leaning district will probably introduce a bill, just like the ones that Carolyn McCarthy has introduced every session for years, but in all likelihood that bill will never make it out of committee. Already, many in the major media outlets are running stories lamenting that, in spite of this incident and others like it, gun control has not enjoyed popular support for many years.

While not scientific, I often read the comments section of online news stories just to get a feel for how people are reacting to a given event. In this case, the call for gun control is far from overwhelming and, in some cases in the extreme minority. The only articles I found where a majority of commenters supported gun control were those from MSNBC, and that's not really all that surprising given the audience that particular organization seems to cater to.

July 22, 2012, 12:38 PM	#56
Webleymkv Senior Member Join Date: July 20, 2005 Location: Indiana Posts: 10,446	The media reaction is completely expected. Anytime there's shooting that comes to national attention such as Columbine, Virginia Tech, Gabby Giffords, or now Aurora CO, the usual suspects waste little time "dancing in the blood of the victims" and trying to use a tradgedy for their own political gain. This is not the first mass shooting to occur and it won't likely be the last and when it happens again, the Brady's, Bloomberg, Feinstein, Schumer, McCarthy Michael Moore, and the other notable gun-control advocates will almost undoubtedly screech about it again. That's not really what's important though. What's important is whether or not the screeching about gun control actually resonates with the majority of the American People and it doesn't seem to any longer. Yes, some Senator or Representative from a far-left leaning district will probably introduce a bill, just like the ones that Carolyn McCarthy has introduced every session for years, but in all likelihood that bill will never make it out of committee. Already, many in the major media outlets are running stories lamenting that, in spite of this incident and others like it, gun control has not enjoyed popular support for many years. While not scientific, I often read the comments section of online news stories just to get a feel for how people are reacting to a given event. In this case, the call for gun control is far from overwhelming and, in some cases in the extreme minority. The only articles I found where a majority of commenters supported gun control were those from MSNBC, and that's not really all that surprising given the audience that particular organization seems to cater to.