questions come from agenda-driven media who ask respondents to react to feel-good phraseology, rather than probe their underlying ideology. Consider, for example, this question: “Do you
want to reduce gun violence against children to make sure a mass murder like what happened in Newton, Conn., never happens again?” That sounds like a noble goal, but it is actually an irresponsible survey question that tugs at heartstrings while promising an outcome no one can assure. It is akin to ad- vocating world peace, sunshine every day, and weight loss with- out calorie restriction or exercise. Who could disagree? In fact, there is wide
support for “reducing gun violence” — in- cluding from the NRA, which for decades has called for keeping fi re- arms out of the hands of criminals. But there is much
less for “banning” most fi rearms, or for ban- ning ammunition. Even the polling at
cording to a Jan. 9-13 Pew poll. Asked if “it was more important to control gun ownership,” 57 percent of women concurred, compared to 44 percent of men. The gender schism is even more dramatic on
whether to ban the types of fi rearms used in these mass shootings. Sixty-seven percent of women sup- ported such bans, compared to 48 percent of men. As a mother of four small children, I understand
Men and Women Diff er
— Especially on Guns The November elections reflected big gender diff erences
among U.S. voters. Gun control is no exception — women think it is a much better idea than men do.
CNN, whose prime- time hosts have been strong advocates of such bans since Sandy Hook, shows sharp de- clines in support for mandatory gun reg- istration and bans on semi-automatics or high-capacity maga- zines (see accompany- ing graphic at left). In fact, support for these gun-control proposals is
“What do you think is more important — to protect the right of Americans to own guns, or to control gun ownership?”
“Would you favor . . . a ban on semi-automatic weapons?”
Men Women Protect Gun Rights
51% 38% Control Ownership
44% 57% Favor Ban
48% 67% SOURCE: Pew Research Center, Jan. 9-13, 2013
even lower than when the same poll was conducted in August 2012, two weeks after the Aurora movie theater shooting. Still, the gender gap on these issues is massive.
Fifty-one percent of men agreed “it was more impor- tant to protect the rights of Americans to own guns,” but only 38 percent of women felt the same way, ac-
the impulse of women to ensure that Sandy Hook and related massacres never happen again. We all share that goal. But survey questions that provide mom- and-apple-pie phras- ing off er no facts or fi gures about compet- ing interests, e.g., cost, loss of other freedoms, practicality, and legal- ity. Such polls are mis- leading and should not be relied upon when crafting policy. They also fail to ac-
knowledge a key truth revealed by Election Day polling for many years: The intensity of opinion and engage- ment rests with those who laud the Second Amendment, not with those who call for gun control. Obama’s quest for
re-election among a population that abhors intrusive government, and that was centered on swing states where
gun owners vote their interests, rendered the presi- dent silent on these issues for over four years. That may account for the sanctimonious aspect of
his current grandstanding. But Obama’s newfound conviction does not re-
lieve him of the solemn duty that he reconfi rmed on inauguration day, with hand on Bible, to uphold and defend the U.S. Constitution and its amendments. All of them.
MARCH 2013 | NEWSMAX 57
RICH LEGG/E+/GETTY IMAGES
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