In the days following the horrific mass murder in Uvalde, Texas, the media has been reporting that 70 percent of the American people favor more gun restrictions. MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough even claimed a 90 percent figure.
Most of the reports then pivoted to wonder how the National Rifle Association and Republicans in Congress could oppose what they deemed “sensible gun measures” against such overwhelming public support. Perhaps there is not that much support for more gun restrictions.
Of all the spectacular changes in the stories about Uvalde … police ran in, no they did not … teacher left the door open, no she did not … I was also shocked by another dramatic change in the reporting on public opinion on guns – and this time from CNN.
CNN’s resident numbers cruncher, Harry Enten, went to the magic board to provide a detailed look at public opinion about guns and gun restrictions. The first numbers on the board grabbed my immediate attention. I had to reverse the screen to make sure I had seen it correctly.
Here is what it showed.
The number of people who are dissatisfied with current gun laws and want more restrictions was 36 percent. Conversely, the percentage of the population who are either satisfied with the current gun laws – or are dissatisfied and want less of them – is 54 percent of the American public.
That’s what they said. More than half the American public does not want more gun restrictions – and since only a little more than one-third of Americans own guns, that has to include millions of folks who do not own a gun.
Enten took the issue even further – to where the rubber hits the road. How do people vote on gun issues? He provided two specific referenda proposing greater restrictions on guns – one in Maine and one in Nevada. The Maine plebiscite failed in a 51 to 49 vote. The Nevada referendum passed by the slimmest of margins – 50.4 to 49.6. Basically, America is split down the middle on more gun restrictions – leaning ever so slightly to the opposition. That is far from the narrative being peddled by the left-wing media.
There will inevitably be a lot of pushbacks against those numbers, but they better explain political reality than the numbers being pushed by Scarborough et al. It may be why so many members of Congress – Republican and Democrat – do not support major gun restrictions. It is not the money from the NRA after all – but the fact that the legislators have a hand on the pulse of the people back home.
The distribution of voters also makes a huge difference. They are not likely to be evenly distributed across the country. Rather, those favoring stricter gun laws are concentrated in Democrat states and highly populated urban areas – that have stricter gun laws. Those favoring less strict gun laws are concentrated in Republican states with fewer restrictions. We may not get a clear view of this dynamic since virtually all the major media personnel reporting on gun legislation are concentrated in Democrat states with greater anti-gun cultures. They are reporting their biases.
The fact that this report came from CNN was surprising, but it does give it greater credibility since that network is generally the voice of the left. Had this come from FOX News, you know how numb-nuts like Brian Stelter would have pounced on it. Hmmm. What does he say now that it comes from his own employer?
While most of the leftwing media has been wallowing in the propaganda narratives about guns – and virtually everything else — the CNN report seems like a breath of fresh air. I wonder if this is the result of the new ownership at CNN realizing that progressive propaganda programming is going out of style.
So, there ‘tis.