With Washington largely silent on gun control after the Charleston, S.C., shootings and the national debate steering to a fight over flying the Confederate flag, advocates of the Second Amendment are declaring victory.
Citing recent surveys in support of arms, the National Rifle Association said, “The polls suggest that the public has thoroughly rejected the gun control talking points.”
Without mentioning the Charleston church shootings, the NRA’s lobbying arm posted a story on its blog that said efforts by gun control advocates such as former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg have not worked.
“The decades-long campaign to convince Americans that they are safer without firearms has been an utter failure,” said the post.
In one poll cited by the group, Rasmussen Reports found that a majority of Americans would rather live in a neighborhood where residents were allowed to own guns. And a Gallup poll has shown a steady decline in support for stricter gun laws.
“These results are bad news for gun control advocates, who spent the 1990s trying to convince Americans that close proximity to firearms posed a threat to their safety,” said the NRA.
The topic was a hot one last week during a mayors conference in California, but many admitted that there is a political lack of will to take on the fight both in Washington and in state legislatures.
“This happens every time there is a situation: gun control comes to the front burner. But the problem is the political will is lacking,” Mayor Mary Casillas Salas of Chula Vista, Calif., told Reuters.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
