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Unhappy with PEW, gun control group petitions for change to...*updated*
Last edited Thu Jan 15, 2015, 07:15 PM - Edit history (1)
https://www.change.org/p/tell-pew-research-accurately-track-public-opinion-on-gun-safety-laws?recruiter=38127025&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=autopublish&utm_term=mob-xs-share_petition-no_msg&utm_content=rp_petition_fb_share_desc%3AcontrolUnhappy with PEW, gun control group petitions for change to this survey question:
"which is more important: protect gun rights or control gun ownership?"
Our dear friend Shannon chimed in on that in salon, when asked if she was surprised by the survey results:
Were you surprised by the Pew poll’s results?
No, they didn’t surprise me, because Pew keeps using this old and poorly crafted poll question — and it really perpetuates this outdated idea that we have to choose as a country between protecting gun rights and supporting public safety. But that’s a false choice.
http://www.salon.com/2015/01/01/the_nra_is_losing_moms_demand_actions_shannon_watts_on_what_the_medias_missing_on_guns/
No, they didn’t surprise me, because Pew keeps using this old and poorly crafted poll question — and it really perpetuates this outdated idea that we have to choose as a country between protecting gun rights and supporting public safety. But that’s a false choice.
http://www.salon.com/2015/01/01/the_nra_is_losing_moms_demand_actions_shannon_watts_on_what_the_medias_missing_on_guns/
Of course she didn't like it...But then, would anyone who says the following in a tweet like it? I doubt it:
The new question, proposed by The Greenwich Council Against Gun Violence is as follows:
"To better track public opinion on the gun issue, we're asking Pew for a new question: "Which do you think is more important: make it harder for criminals, domestic abusers and the severely mentally ill to get guns or protect the right to own guns with minimal restrictions?"
They also say "Pew's question creates a false perception of gun safety advocates, who are not trying to "control gun ownership" but rather want reasonable regulations that keep firearms out of the hands of dangerous people."
Their problem, is that that claim can and has been proven false, both right in this post with the tweet pictured above, and at large in this forum in so many threads.
And Shannon isn't alone. The CSGV *surprise surprise surprise* has also jumped on the bandwagon on facebook:
Tell Pew Research Center that it helps to ask fair, balanced questions when it comes to getting opinions on guns.
https://www.facebook.com/CoalitiontoStopGunViolence/posts/1015491595145072
https://www.facebook.com/CoalitiontoStopGunViolence/posts/1015491595145072
That sounds great, doesn't it? But lets see how CSGV defines "fair" or balanced" when it comes to what THEY say about guns, and look at their stated goals. First some background:
Formerly known, before taking on a less honest name and broadening its scope, as The National Coalition to Ban Handguns.
In 1989, the National Coalition to Ban Handguns changed its name to the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, in part because the group felt that "assault weapons" as well as handguns, should be outlawed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coalition_to_Stop_Gun_Violence
Heres an example of "fair" and "balanced" when it comes to the CSGV:
This is an excerpt of something they put up on their own website, purportedly from the cinci post:
Crowley will ask his colleagues on City Council to endorse Yates' bill, as well as lobby to extend the federal ban.
The semiautomatic weapons continue firing ammunition automatically once the user squeezes the trigger once and keeps it pressed down.
Urban areas already are wracked by gun violence, and ending the ban would worsen the situation, the lawmakers said.
http://web.archive.org/web/20041102065156/http://www.csgv.org/news/headlines/cincipost5_7_04.cfm
The semiautomatic weapons continue firing ammunition automatically once the user squeezes the trigger once and keeps it pressed down.
Urban areas already are wracked by gun violence, and ending the ban would worsen the situation, the lawmakers said.
http://web.archive.org/web/20041102065156/http://www.csgv.org/news/headlines/cincipost5_7_04.cfm
Now, lets have a look at the original cincy post story and see whats missing:
Crowley will ask his colleagues on City Council to endorse Yates' bill, as well as lobby to extend the federal ban.
Urban areas already are wracked by gun violence, and ending the ban would worsen the situation, the lawmakers said.
http://web.archive.org/web/20000815060817/http://www.csgv.org/content/coalition/coal_intro.html
Urban areas already are wracked by gun violence, and ending the ban would worsen the situation, the lawmakers said.
http://web.archive.org/web/20000815060817/http://www.csgv.org/content/coalition/coal_intro.html
CSGVs stated goals:
"The goal of CSGV is the orderly elimination of the private sale of handguns and assault weapons in the United States"
http://web.archive.org/web/20000815060817/http://www.csgv.org/content/coalition/coal_intro.html
"Gun safety" groups, trying to control the debate in every possible way, up to and including by misleading the American people, but people are supposed to look to them for whats "fair" or "balanced"?
Update - I had forgotten about this:
Gun Control group (CSGV)caught using selective editing in a attack ad against John Barrow (D)GA
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1172104844
23 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
https://www.change.org/p/tell-pew-research-accurately-track-public-opinion-on-gun-safety-laws?recruiter=38127025&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=autopublish&utm_term=mob-xs-share_petition-no_msg&utm_content=rp_petition_fb_share_desc%3Acontrol
.....In December, Pew reported that for the first time in 20 years, Americans believe it is more important to protect gun rights than it is to control gun ownership. The report received widespread media coverage because it stands in stark contrast to the crisis of gun violence that claims 30,000 lives each year. But the premise of the question is flawed. It presents a false choice between regulating firearms and protecting Second Amendment rights.
Pew's director of political research, Carroll Doherty, admitted as much when he told Mother Jones "Is it a perfect question? Probably not." Experts on gun policy are critical of the question. Daniel Webster, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research told Media Matters "I could not think of a worse way to ask questions about public opinions about gun policies."
The Pew survey question ("which is more important: protect gun rights or control gun ownership?"
does gun violence prevention a disservice by suggesting there is less support for common-sense gun laws than there actually is. That's why we're petitioning the Pew Research Center to add a new question that accurately measures public opinion on the importance of strengthening gun safety laws versus protecting easy access to firearms.
Pew's question creates a false perception of gun safety advocates, who are not trying to "control gun ownership" but rather want reasonable regulations that keep firearms out of the hands of dangerous people. We also believe in balancing public safety against individual rights by restricting highly lethal weaponry such as large capacity magazines and firearms designed for military use..................
