Guardian: "NRA a fringe interest group – only a dysfunctional electoral system allows it power"

[villager]

Why gun control always misfires

The NRA is a fringe interest group – only the US's dysfunctional electoral system allows it to leverage so much power

Steven Hill


For all the national outrage over the Tucson massacre, and renewed appeals by well-meaning politicians like Michael Bloomberg, everyone knows that sentiment will not translate into commonsense gun control laws. As after the Columbine massacre in 1999, national polls show a majority of Americans favouring stricter gun control laws, yet as with so many other issues, majority support does not necessarily lead to congressional action. How can there be such an ongoing disconnect between popular opinion and public policy?

Many gun control advocates blame it on the power wielded by the National Rifle Association and its campaign war chest. But the fact is that the NRA has power not so much because of the deep pockets of its political action committee, but because of the fundamental architecture of our antiquated winner-take-all elections that give overwhelming power to a tiny minority of people known as "swing voters".

It turns out that NRA voters are disproportionately swing voters – among that 5-10% of voters who will change sides in a close election. Many are classic Reagan Democrats and union members who fear infringement on gun ownership. These NRA voters form a potent single-issue voting bloc.

Moreover, NRA voters live disproportionately in battleground states and swing congressional districts and therefore decide the handful of congressional and presidential elections that are won by five percentage points or less. As Republican strategist and NRA board member Grover Norquist has said, "The question is intensity versus preference. You can always get a certain percentage to say they are in favour of some gun controls. But are they going to vote on their 'control' position?"

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/jan/24/gun-crime-arizona-shooting

[hlthe2b]

1. Oh, dear... I guess we have to go to war with G. Britain ....

(again)....Them's 'fightin words!



:sarcasm:

[patrice]

2. This is because the U.S. is, in part, under the control of FOREIGN powers, who need

the means to threaten the rest of us in order to maintain their control over our policies.

One very effective way to cultivate that threat is through a group of people who care about NOTHING but owning their guns.