Pro-massacre Republicans have continued to vilify the Parkland survivors who’ve spoken up after the mass-shooting at their school. But the kids are fighting back, very effectively:
But the kids are winning the argument. NRA favorability has dropped significantly. By 45-36, Americans now have an unfavorable view of the NRA:
That is at least partly because Parkland survivors have been laser-focused on the effect the NRA has had on politics surrounding guns:
And the news is about to get much worse for the NRA and their pro-massacre Republican enablers. Pew Research found that millennial voters are “looking forward” to voting in the 2018 midterms at rates they never have before. And we know from the same surveys that millennials and younger voters in general are skewing towards Democrats, millennials are 59-32 in favor of Democrats.
What’s even more remarkable is that this survey was taken before Parkland, which woke up an entire generation of kids.
This was taken before tens of thousands of high school students began voter registration drives on their schools.
Why is this happening? It’s happening because the stories of Parkland survivors are compelling, and their arguments have merit. It’s happening because the groundwork for this moment was laid by activists, many of them survivors of other mass shootings, including Moms Demand Action, Everytown, Giffords, the Brady campaign, Newtown Action and more.
None of the measures being proposed are new, and they have enjoyed broad support from Americans for years. We’ve been held back from enacting them by special interest lobbying, largely by the NRA and gun-manufacturers. For example, here’s Reagan talking about California’s background check system, waiting periods and advocating for an assault weapons ban:
Assault weapons are a serious contributor to the death-toll from mass-shootings, as Senator Feinstein explains:
I disagree with Sen. Feinstein on lots of issues, but on gun safety/control she has been a bear. She has never strayed for over 30 years, ever since that day in San Francisco City Hall when she was the one who found Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk’s bodies after they’d been assassinated.
An argument often trotted out by pro-massacre politicians is that guns are a “cultural” issue. Michael Seigel from Boston University has a great article up about how gun makers and the gun lobby have influenced and created the “gun culture” in America:
Yet in our nation’s ongoing conversation about the root causes of gun violence, the makers of guns are hardly ever mentioned. As a public health researcher, I find this odd, because evidence shows that the culture around guns contributes significantly to gun violence. And firearm manufacturers have played a major role influencing American gun culture. [...]
Gunmakers have become very effective at marketing their wares as necessary tools for self-defense – perhaps in large part to offset a declinein demand for recreational use.
For example, in 2005, Smith & Wesson announced a major new marketing campaign focused on “safety, security, protection and sport.” The number of guns the company sold soared after the switch, climbing 30 percent in 2005 and 50 percent in 2006, led by strong growth in pistol sales. By comparison, the number of firearms sold in 2004 rose 11 percent over the previous year. — theconversation.com/...
Sadly, some Democrats are not willing to counter gun-manufacturer propaganda either, painting themselves into increasingly ridiculous corners:
And while we’re discussing guns and the impact they’re having on schoolchildren, we shouldn’t forget the ongoing water crisis in Flint which has impacted thousands of children profoundly. Trump has largely ignored Flint, but the city continues to suffer from the long-term impact of bad decisions by Rick Snyder’s administration:
— @subirgrewal