On Saturday, hundreds of thousands of people are expected to gather in Washington in concert with thousands more around the world for the March for Our Lives, thanks to the stamina and passion of Parkland, Fla., students and students around the country who have inspired fellow Americans to get up off the couch and into the streets. Perhaps the boiling anger toward President Trump spilled over into the gun debate. Maybe National Rifle Association chief executive Wayne LaPierre’s arrogance and extremism, on display last month at the Conservative Political Action Conference, finally stuck in the public’s craw. And it’s possible other movements (#MeToo, protecting the “dreamers”) are helping populate the gun-safety demonstrations.
Whatever the reason, something has already changed. as numerous polls have found. The Associated Press reports:
Support for tougher gun control laws is soaring in the United States, according to a new poll that found a majority of gun owners and half of Republicans favor new laws to address gun violence in the weeks after a Florida school shooting left 17 dead and sparked nationwide protests.
The poll, conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, found that nearly 7 in 10 adults now favor stricter gun control measures. That’s the strongest level of support since The Associated Press first asked the question five years ago. …
More than 8 in 10 Americans favor a federal law preventing mentally ill people from purchasing guns, along with a federal law expanding background check requirements to include gun shows and private sales.
Nearly 8 in 10 favor allowing courts to prevent people from owning guns if considered a danger to themselves or others, even if they have not been convicted of a crime. And 7 in 10 favor a nationwide ban on devices known as “bump stocks” that allow semi-automatic guns to function like automatic guns.
Nearly 6 in 10 favor a nationwide ban on AR-15-style rifles.
The movement in public opinion to a degree is bipartisan:
Overall, 69 percent of Americans think gun laws in the United States should be made stricter. That’s up from 61 percent who said the same in October of 2016 and 55 percent when the AP first asked the question in October of 2013. Overall, 90 percent of Democrats, 54 percent of gun owners and 50 percent of Republicans now favor stricter gun control laws. Sixty percent believe that making it harder to legally obtain a gun would result in fewer mass shootings; just 49 percent said the same in the 2016 poll. The new poll finds support for specific gun control measures even among those who bristle at the term “gun control.”
Likewise, according to a Marist poll: “A majority of Americans (54%) say it is more important to control gun violence in the nation than to protect gun rights including 34% of gun owners. 39% of people nationally believe it’s more important to protect gun rights, and 7% are unsure.”
At the same time, Americans are rather pessimistic about the impact of Saturday’s march. The AP poll finds that “nearly half of Americans do not expect elected officials to take action.” Marist finds that 52 percent think the march will make no difference, although there is a partisan split. “60% of Democrats say the march will help in the fight to curb gun violence. Although 56% of independents think it will make little difference, among those who think it will have an impact, 34% think it will help and only 7% think it will hurt. 65% of Republicans do not think the march will make a difference.”
The wrong question, I would suggest, is being asked of voters. Instead of “Will the march change things?” the more interesting questions would be: Will the march and coverage of the school shootings change how you vote? Whether you will vote? Will you now consider the candidates’ positions on guns when deciding how to cast your vote? Do you think Democrats or Republicans are more concerned about gun-safety laws?
Asked in this way, we get to the essence of the political moment in which we find ourselves. At a time when democracies are under siege all over the world and Trump is more unhinged than ever (and his advisers are becoming more divorced from the views of average Americans), anger and dissatisfaction with Trump is soaring. In the latest Marist poll, 38 percent strongly disapprove of Trump, and only 22 percent strongly approve. The numbers of those who disapprove and the intensity of their opinion alike have grown. Meanwhile, actual participation in our democracy is soaring. The gun-safety, #MeToo and dreamer movements have taken off. Record numbers turned out in off-year elections (2107) and in special elections continuing into this year. A record number of women are running for office. And yes, subscriptions to traditional newspapers have skyrocketed. Many have become political activists for the first time in their lives.
The message for the marchers and for all Americans, I hope, is that the country’s fate is ultimately in voters’ hands. If they care deeply about their country and want to change it, they can — provided they turn out in droves in November and make choices that reflect their values and beliefs.
