Poll: Most gun owners support some gun controls
by Joseph Tanfani, Tribune Washington Bureau, bostonherald.com -- July 25, 2012
WASHINGTON — Second Amendment rights to carry firearms are cherished by most gun owners, a new poll finds — no surprise there. But the same poll says a sizable majority of those same gun owners, even members of the National Rifle Association, also strongly support some gun-control measures.
The poll, done for Mayors Against Illegal Guns, found that 76 percent of gun owners think people on the terrorist watch list should be barred from buying guns, and 68 percent were in favor of measures requiring gun owners to tell police if their guns are lost or stolen. The NRA has opposed such measures.
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The poll also found that 82 percent of gun owners think anyone purchasing a gun should get a criminal background check. And 80 percent of the sample believed that concealed carry permits should only be granted to applicants who have completed gun safety training.
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Well, that only makes sense ... wouldn't you agree?
So how is an armed and unarmed citizenry to counter the "uncommon views" of a Lobbyist group -- who spends hundreds of millions every year, in order to keep selling their wares -- unwatched and unhindered?
How to Break NRA’s Grip on Politics: Michael R. Bloomberg
by Michael R. Bloomberg, bloomberg.com -- Jul 26, 2012
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Mayors and the NRA strongly agree that the federal government should enforce the laws already on the books. Federal law prohibits all felons -- and those with a history of mental illness or drug abuse -- from possessing guns.
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That is why the federal government requires licensed firearm dealers to conduct background checks to determine whether an individual is eligible to purchase a gun.
Nonlicensed sellers, however, are not required to perform federal background checks, and as much as 40 percent of gun sales slip through this loophole. Criminals and the deranged can buy guns simply by logging on to the Internet or visiting a gun show -- and they do, every day. Stopping them requires background checks for every gun sale, a change strongly supported by major law enforcement organizations, as well as gun owners and NRA members. But not the NRA’s leadership.
The NRA is a $200 million-plus-a-year lobbying juggernaut, with much of its funding coming from gun manufacturers and merchandising. More than anything, the NRA is a marketing organization, and its flagship product is fear. Gun sales jumped after Obama was elected president, based on the absurd -- and now demonstrably false -- fear that he would seek to ban guns.
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"Background checks for each and every gun sale ... No Loopholes."
Well, that only makes sense ... wouldn't you agree?
Most NRA Gun-owners do ... do agree:
Gun Owners Poll -- July 2012 -- luntzglobal
Mayors Against Illegal Guns
We polled 945 gun owners nationwide (margin of error +3%) in May 2012.
The sample was divided evenly by gun owners who were current or lapsed members of the NRA, and non-NRA gun owners.
Requiring a criminal background check of anyone purchasing a gun.
AGREE
Total 82%
Non-NRA 87%
NRA 74%
Requiring gun retailers to perform background checks on all employees to ensure they are not felons.
AGREE
Total 80%
Non-NRA 80%
NRA 79%
Concealed carry permits should only be granted to applicants who have NOT committed any violent misdemeanors, such as assault.
AGREE
Total 78%
Non-NRA 81%
NRA 75%
Concealed carry permits should only be granted to applicants who do NOT have prior arrests for domestic violence.
AGREE
Total 73%
Non-NRA 78%
NRA 68%
Support for 2nd Amendment rights goes hand-in-hand with keeping illegal guns out of the hands of criminals.
AGREE
Total 85%
Non-NRA 83%
NRA 87%
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These wide-spread "common sense" views, shared among gun-owners and non-gun owners alike, have not gone unnoticed by President Obama ...
Obama: 'Common sense' gun control for criminals, mentally ill
by Amie Parnes, thehill.com -- 07/25/12
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In his remarks -- the most extensive on the gun control topic during his presidency -- Obama said he believes most gun owners would agree “we should do everything possible" to prevent criminals and fugitives from purchasing weapons and that criminal records should be carefully examined before they obtain firearms. The president, who also spent time with victims of the Colorado shooting on Sunday, also offered that "a mentally unbalanced individual should not be able to get his hands on a gun so easily.
“These steps shouldn’t be controversial,” he said. “They should be common sense."
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If only we lived, in such a common sense world ... where powerful Lobbyist "juggernauts" didn't get to continually re-set the National Agenda, with a few phone calls ...
And actual living, breathing, people did, instead.
Maybe some day. As we continue to work hard to build that common sense world, and hope.