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Old January 14, 2020, 01:07 PM   #79
zukiphile
Senior Member
 
Join Date: December 13, 2005
Posts: 4,456
Many things are possible in principle. That doesn't make them true stand alone features in a real political system where the same motive for UBCs also supports other restrictions.

I don't see that gun owners are particularly apathetic on 2d Am. issues, but they also aren't categorically supportive of the 2d Am. Normal people aren't consumed by politics because they have things going on in their lives; any of school, work or family are likely to be a priority over travelling to DC to protest.

The drive for greater restrictions does have an advantage in political terrain. People who've just heard of an outrage can, for a short period of time, believe that the source of the outrage is a priority. Someone whose greatest anxiety last week was what to serve at a dinner party may be led to believe that last week's school shooting 2000 miles away is a priority that demands a call to her congressman, or even just staying on the telephone to answer a survey question. The result is public polling in which support for a restriction may be highly variable and increases just after a prominent story.

In contrast, people with a more complex than average view of a right to firearms possession may have less variable opinions, but express those opinions within the context of an ordinary life, i.e. one not dominated by political issues.

The problem in dealing in concessions on this right is that one will be dealing with political opportunists who prey on constituents who periodically express their outrage at genuinely outrageous events. That sort of concession is a retreat, not a settlement.
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