There are a lot of things to celebrate about the 2008 election, and one of them is that it was a resounding victory for gun control. This is counterintuitive because the news media (including, unfortunately, too many liberal bloggers) have convinced many Democrats that gun control is in some way a "losing" issue, and that the Democratic party has to abandon it entirely in order to win significant victories outside of large metropolitan areas. The 2008 election should put the lie to that notion once and for all, for the following reasons (continued below the fold):
–Yes, it is true that Obama de-emphasized gun control, but it is not at all true that he opposed it (contrary to the insistence of some right-wing pundits, who claimed that Obama started to oppose gun control when he started running and that this was in some way a "flip-flop"), nor is it true that he ignored it. This page is proof of what I am saying. Under the heading "Crime and Law Enforcement" and the subheading "Address Gun Violence in Cities," you will see that the Obama-Biden ticket supported many of the perfectly reasonable things that the Brady Campaign has supported all along, such as reinstatement of the assault weapons ban and the ending of the gun-show loophole. Obviously, this did not cost them the election in any way, shape, or form. In any event, it certainly did not cost Obama significant support in Western states, since he carried Colorado and New Mexico and almost carried Montana.
–The National Rifle Association vehemently opposed Obama (even though he de-emphasized gun control), actively campaigned against him-–and lost. (If anyone actually needs proof of this, here it is, straight from the horse’s mouth.)
While this isn’t the first or the last time that the NRA has lost, it still is concrete evidence that the organization, while powerful, is not at all invincible.
–The folks at Handgun Control have a detailed report on the success of pro-gun-control candidates that can be seen here (note that this is a PDF file).
This New York Times article sums up the report.
Among the highlights of the report: the NRA spent a great deal of money to elect Senate candidates Elizabeth Dole and Bob Schaffer in Republican-leaning states, and not only did both of them lose, but Obama carried both of their states. In addition, the NRA endorsed the Republican in 20 of the 25 races in which Democrats picked up seats.
Many liberals, both on Daily Kos and elsewhere, have argued that the results of this election are a mandate for liberal change, and for the enactment of the progressive agenda. I completely agree, and I think that my arguments above prove that there is every reason that the most popular gun control measures, such as a reinstatement of the assault weapons ban, should be a part of that progressive agenda.
UPDATE: Wow! I had no idea that this diary would get 168 comments! My previous gun control diary, which was much more in-depth and detailed, didn't get anywhere near that many. While I appreciate all the comments, I have to say I'm more impressed with those by users like Arken, who actually engaged with my arguments (in agreement or disagreement), rather than those which just dismissed what I had to say or condescended to me. I can't reply to every comment, but there were a few that I felt really merited a response, as readers can see below.
In any event, for more arguments in favor of gun control (including refutations of commonly-made arguments like "gun control is a political loser" and so on), I would recommend my previous diary on this subject. I'd also recommend my blog, wantsomewood.blogspot.com, which deals in some depth with this subject and many others. Here is a shortcut to the articles on gun control on the blog.
More generally, I realize that there are clearly a significant number of otherwise-liberal folks who are anti-gun-control, and while I don't agree with that view, I can respect it if it's well-reasoned. All that said, I would hope that folks with that kind of major exception to their liberalism would be similarly tolerant of others' occasional variances from liberal orthodoxy, including my own.