When will we fight the gun lobby? President Biden asked this, following a school shooting in Texas.
As a nation we must ask: When in God’s name will we stand up to the gun lobby?
When in God’s name will we do what needs to be done?
I’m sick and tired of it. We have to act.
— President Biden (@POTUS) May 25, 2022
This has been the rallying cry of advocates for stricter gun control for decades.
The reasoning behind it seems convincing: the population favors tighter gun control measures, such as a ban on “assault weapons,” while a powerful Washington special interest spends millions to pay off and threaten legislators.
It’s a riveting narrative, but it’s fake.
Not an Issue of Funding
Biden and those who want stricter gun control laws won’t have to compete with donors with deep pockets.
If we’re sincere, they have a lot of money backing them up. Biden and his team face millions of gun lovers who reject gun control regulations.
Obama points finger at GOP, gun lobby in wake of Texas shooting https://t.co/zkEqFH0DEG pic.twitter.com/Qk9ERHcPD6
— The Hill (@thehill) May 25, 2022
Mike Bloomberg, who has billions of dollars, is on the side of those who want stricter gun laws. He is spending all of his money on this cause, while the NRA is on the verge of dying out.
The National Rifle Association was, without a doubt, one of the most powerful and influential lobbies in the United States throughout a good portion of its history. Members gave the NRA its clout.
A congressman was not scared that the NRA would invest tens of millions of dollars against them; rather, he feared that 10,000 of his NRA-affiliated constituents would get letters explaining he co-sponsored an anti-gun bill.
Money is distributed quite evenly these days.
In the 2020 election, Everytown for Gun Safety spent a total of $21 million, while the National Rifle Association spent a total of $29 million. Bloomberg’s gun control class spent up to $8 million in Texas before Tuesday’s incident.
Gun control routinely outspends gun rights. Everytown for Gun Safety outspent the NRA in recent Virginia legislative campaigns.
In a recent ballot measure in Maine, gun control supporters outspent advocates for gun rights by a ratio of seven to one, yet they were still unsuccessful.
Gun Culture!
Occasionally, gun rights supporters outspend gun control advocates.
Outspent gun rights supporters sometimes triumph. Money seems insignificant. The difference seems to be many people prefer weapons and civil liberties.
They don’t comply with efforts to take them away, even to reduce school shootings. Gun rights proponents are more driven than these folks.
Biden and other gun control advocates aren’t battling a restricted lobby. They are against subcultures. They must change their mindset and way of life to pass gun legislation.
That’s why gun control discussions often degenerate into culture wars.
“Gun culture” is a phenomenon. Culture drives this narrative. Culture is the primary cause of so many gun deaths.
Bari Weiss wrote, “This country is sick. Beyond gun addiction. It’s a social and political sickness that’s anti-human.”
Most gun control advocates avoid discussing culture in speeches and columns.
Maybe they fear cultural change is tougher than enacting a law. Perhaps the idea that culture has such a significant role in determining behavior is offensive to them.
Instead, they say a strong, mysterious, deep-pocketed special interest is why we’re losing. It may soothe feelings, but it won’t change anything.
