discussin class

This week we will look at the debate on gun issues and 2nd Amendment rights.  Numerous tragedies, from the Tuscon shootings of Congresswoman Giffords and others in January 2011 to the Aurora, Colorado movie theater shootings of July 2012, to the school shootings in Newtown back in December 2012, to the mass shooting in the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, have prompted current discussion of the gun issue.  With the more recent Bernadino, Orlando, and Ft Lauderdale incidents, the gun issue has and will continue to play an important role in political campaigns and legislative policy-making over time.  Take a look at this article from CNN, Why Do People Buy Guns After a Mass Shooting: http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/01/health/gun-sales-mass-shootings-study/.   After a mass shooting, public opinion for more gun control measures also often increases.  Here are some statistics on the state of gun ownership in  the US: a General Social Survey which has been tracking gun ownership in surveys since 1872, has found that 31 percent of households reported owning a gun in 2014, which is down from approximately half of households in the late 1970's and early 1980's:http://www.norc.org/PDFs/GSS%20Reports/GSS_Trends%20in%20Gun%20Ownership_US_1972-2014.pdf.  And a more recent Harvard/Northeastern survey shows guns concentrated in the hands of fewer Americans than previously.  

Then take a look at the results of a number of Gallup polls over time reporting American public opinion on gun legislation, discussing opinions on Second Amendment rights: http://www.gallup.com/poll/188219/americans-dissatisfaction-gun-laws-new-high.aspx and http://www.gallup.com/poll/1645/guns.aspx  and Pew Research Center studies relating to gun control: http://www.pewresearch.org/topics/gun-control/.

Respond to the following questions in your initial Discussion Board posting:

1) Many of our political leaders responded to these recent tragedies by proposing legislation, such as increased background checks, closing the gun show sales loophole between private parties, a new ban on semi-automatic clips (previous assault weapon ban ended in 2004 and has not been renewed by Congress), and prohibiting gun ownership for individuals on "no-fly" lists, etc.  With solid public support for many/all of these initiatives, why did so few of these proposals result in policy?  Why is the gun issue be linked to incidences of mass shootings and not to a more general understanding of gun deaths in the US?  Here is a presentation that provides data on recent gun death statistics in the US: http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/gun-deaths/.

2) Public opinion poll results seem to conflict when compared over time.  What accounts for these changes in public opinion?  Will public opinion translate into public policy over time?

This is a sensitive topic for many students, so please try to make your points in a concrete, non-partisan way that is respectful, but all opinions should feel welcome by Discussion Board participants.  We all learn so much from each other's viewpoints when we engage in civil discourse.  In a Political Science class, we analyze data and discuss policies and public opinion with an eye to understanding the development of public policy over time.  Feel free to bring in additional sources in the discussion, but please make sure they are factual and non-partisan. 

Liz