This was inevitable. It’s a trend that follows most tragedies of this sort. Support for new gun control regulations dips immensely months after a mass-shooting event. It’s the one-year anniversary of the horrific Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Florida that left 17 people dead. It sparked another wave of anti-gun activism that clinched some wins, albeit at the state level. Florida banned gun sales to those under the age of 18, even for long guns. It’s grossly unconstitutional and currently being challenged in court. Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) signed that into law in his last leg as governor. In Vermont, Gov. Phil Scott, a Republican, also increased the age to purchase all firearms to 21 and banned so-called high-capacity magazines. It’s no longer legal to own magazines that hold more than 10-rounds for rifles and 15-rounds for handguns. Both Scotts were A-rated by the National Rifle Association. It was a disappointing development, to say the least.
After months of interviews, rallies, and peddling anti-gun propaganda, the March for our Lives crew vanished. Since then, support for new restrictions has dropped by double-digits since the tragic shooting (via NPR):
One year after the school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., the urgency for new gun restrictions has declined, but roughly half the country is concerned a mass shooting could happen at a school in their community, a new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll finds.
In the immediate aftermath of the mass shooting that killed 17 people on Valentine's Day, 71 percent of Americans said laws covering the sale of firearms should be stricter. Now, it's 51 percent.
When it comes to whether stricter gun legislation should be an immediate priority for Congress, 42 percent say it should be. In April 2018, it was 10 points higher.
Now, it’s not entirely surprising. In May of 2018, a mere three months after the shooting, support for new gun regulations began to dip. After the Sandy Hook shooting in 2012, in which 20 school kids were gunned down in a senseless act of violence, support for new gun control laws had fallen below 50percent by December 2013. But wait; there are these tidbits:
…while Americans favor employing school resource officers or armed guards in schools (72 percent said it would make a difference), arming teachers was the least popular (39 percent) in a list of policy options to reduce gun violence.
The list included requiring background checks at gun shows or private sales (82 percent); requiring mental health checks (79 percent); banning high-capacity ammunition clips (65 percent); creating a national database to track all gun sales (64 percent); and banning the sale of semi-automatic assault-style weapons (60 percent).
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Again, FFL dealers at gun shows have to run background checks as required by federal law on all gun purchases. There is no such thing as an “assault weapon.” And we cannot forget that the media fails miserably to understand gun terminology and existing laws. It’s the reason why reporters are still ignorant of semi-automatic and automatic firearms. They still don’t know that semi-automatic firearms are readily available for civilian ownership and anyone who supports such a ban is pushing for an unconstitutional gun ban. It’s not hard, liberal media. The NRA has instructors and experts that can help you with your brain dead analyses on firearms. The wording of these polls is key. For example, you’ll see supermajority support for a ban on semi-automatic firearms and yet, record low support for a handgun ban. A lot of handguns are semi-automatic. Hence, why you should be skeptical. Also, when these gun control supporters say that AR-15 owners are hunting human beings, you get an insight into the anti-gun activist world—it’s total crazy town.
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