Did the senators who voted against a proposal last week to expand background checks on gun buyers take an electoral risk? At first glance, it would seem that they did. Background checks are broadly popular with the public. Overwhelming majorities of 80 to 90 percent of the public say they […] Read more »
Get Ready for Gun Control As a Wedge Issue in 2016
… This week, the Manchin-Toomey amendment requiring background checks on gun purchases failed in the Senate, in part—perhaps in large part—because senators bought into the myth of an omnipotent National Rifle Association. The good news for gun control advocates is that the myth could break in 2016. [cont.] Nate Cohn, […] Read more »
Public support for gun control ebbs
Four months after the shooting rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School, a USA TODAY Poll finds support for a new gun-control law ebbing as prospects for passage on Capitol Hill seem to fade. Americans are more narrowly divided on the issue than in recent months, and backing for a bill […] Read more »
Why Do Gun Rights Advocates Have More Political Firepower? Intensity or Efficacy and Social Networks?
Now that the manhunt in Boston has ended, observers are taking one last look at the failure of gun control proposals in the Senate. … Certainly, elected officials hear far more from the gun rights side of the debate, even when it is badly outnumbered. There may well be more […] Read more »
The Manchin-Toomey gun law defeat heralds trouble for Senate Democrats
On Wednesday, the United States Senate defeated the Manchin-Toomey proposal on background checks. The defeat was a setback for gun control advocates, though it should not have come as a surprise. The defeat with a manifestation of growing problem for Democrats: their coalition is bad for winning many seats in […] Read more »
Modeling the Senate’s Vote on Gun Control
The failure of the Senate on Wednesday to pass a variety of gun control measures is yielding its share of second-guessing. How close was President Obama to seeing the bills meet the 60-vote super-majority required for approval? And was it a good use of his political capital to try? I […] Read more »