General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: It's very simple: If you want new gun control laws, you need the cooperation of legal gun owners. [View all]DanTex
(20,709 posts)So far, the GOP has done a much better job speaking to the concerns of 1%ers. The Dems are basically conceding them to the other side. Etc.
I tell you what. Yes, Obama lost this battle. But I'm happy that he fought it. I'm sick of seeing Dems simply conceding without a fight. I agree, it would be nice if the Dems fought just as hard on the economic front. If the Republicans are going to cut social security, make them do it on a party-line vote, and then hold a press conference afterwards to shame them. Don't meet them half way. Maybe that's something we agree about.
But, I don't see any battle the Dems are having with gun owners. The battle is with the crazies: the 10% who oppose universal background checks, but, like the 1%, have outsized political clout. Obama went out of his way over and over again to say he supports the second amendment. Nobody, not even Chuck Schumer or Diane Feinstein, is even mentioning things like a national gun registry (even though over 50% of the public is in favor of that). Sure, there are some people hostile to gun owners here on DU. Welcome to the internet. But to say that the Democratic Party is hostile to gun owners is simply not true.
And, the truth is, you treat far more progressives as if they were the enemy than I do. How many people do you deride as "gun controllers" or "gun banners". At the very least, anyone who supports the AWB gets that label from you, which means you are hostile to the majority of the Democratic party. I get the whole "gun rights are progressive" argument (though I disagree), but you can't deny the reality that most modern day progressives are people that you would call "gun banners".
About 10% of Americans don't want universal background checks, most of whom are Republicans. On the other side, about 25% of Americans want all handguns banned. Nobody, not even the Democratic party, is speaking for those 25%. As long as we're talking about large portions of the electorate that are being ignored, how about paying a little more attention to the actual gun banners?