Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDavid Sirota: The Lessons of Colorado’s Gun Debate
from truthdig:
The Lessons of Colorados Gun Debate
Posted on Sep 13, 2013
By David Sirota
The day after this weeks elections, the National Rifle Association got exactly what it wanted: a front-page New York Times story about Colorado results that supposedly sent lawmakers across the country a warning about the political risks of voting for tougher gun laws. That article, and many others like it, came after the gun lobby mounted successful recall campaigns against two state legislators who, in the wake of mass shootings, voted for universal background checks, limits on the capacity of bullet magazines and restrictions on domestic abusers owning firearms.
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 dont 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. ......................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_lessons_of_colorados_gun_debate_20130913/
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
2 replies, 672 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (4)
ReplyReply to this post
2 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
David Sirota: The Lessons of Colorado’s Gun Debate (Original Post)
marmar
Sep 2013
OP
gopiscrap
(23,761 posts)1. THis is a good read!
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)2. This won't sit well with the
"1994" and "WOOHOO! The voters fired their asses!" gloaters...
The irony is if the situation was reversed and some out-of-state hardline extremist gun banning organization bankrolled a recall in *their* districts and a minimal voter turnout ousted some pro-RBKA pols, they would ABSOLUTELY lose their shit...
People need to keep the big picture in mind....