The Gun Nuts Pushing Recall Are The Ones Who Should Have Guns Taken Away

[gtar100]

72. Regarding the politics of this recall, I think the issue is more complex than two reps getting their

comeuppance because they had the gall to stand up against the gun lobby. This article in Salon I think explains it well:

http://www.salon.com/2013/09/12/colorado_proves_politicians_cant_fear_gun_reform/

In brief:

Despite the recalls being anomalously low-turnout affairs, the national media helped the gun lobby deliver a frightening message to politicians: Vote for modest gun control and face political death.

For all that reductionism, though, there are more nuanced lessons from these elections.

First and foremost, with statewide polls showing that most Coloradans support modest gun control and opposed the recall campaigns, the elections prove that in low-turnout situations, a relatively small group of pro-gun voters can still win the day.

Additionally, with gun extremists issuing threats of violence against pro-gun-control legislators, Colorado Democrats stopped explaining why their gun legislation was so necessary. In light of that, the election results are a reminder that when politicians don’t stay on the message offensive, they quickly find themselves on the electoral defensive. This is especially the case when, as a Pew survey documented, voters who oppose gun control tend to be more motivated single-issue voters than those who support gun control.

Do gun owners really resort to threats of violence against pro-gun-control legislators?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/05/worst-regards-colorado-democrat-lawmakers-threats-gun-control_n_3874035.html

How is that wanting a reasonable debate? Both sides have extremists, but only one has guns to back up the violent threats.

It would seem that both sides of this issue would agree that we don't want innocent people getting killed. So let's take a step back and get away from the rhetorical arguments on both sides and figure out a way to stop it. Remember, not everyone wants to own a gun, myself included, so I would reject out of hand any proposal to require gun ownership as a way to stop violent crime (which to me is a ridiculous argument).