Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) is reporting on a new study by the McCourtney Institute for Democracy which says 86 percent of American adults “support U.S. Congress mandating background checks for all firearm sales and transfers.”
The MPR report highlights support for various gun control measures, such as “Nearly three-quarters support Congress requiring gun owners to take a test, obtain a license and register their firearms, similar to the process of owning an automobile.”
However, not so highlighted are a couple of interesting figures. Forty-six (46) percent think most current gun laws should be eliminated “in order to protect the Second Amendment,” including 54 percent of identified Republicans and a significant 55 percent of Independents. Fifty-nine (59) percent of Republicans and 54 percent of Independents oppose a congressional ban on so-called “assault weapons” while 90 percent of Democrats support such a move. Roughly two-thirds of Democrats oppose eliminating most gun laws to protect the Second Amendment.
This data clearly shows the massive divide between Democrats and Republicans on Second Amendment issues with Independents leaning more toward the Republican side on some issues, and more toward Democrats on a couple of others.
The MPR report observes, “It is noteworthy that the three firearm-restricting provisions included in this poll are supported by a majority of those who support eliminating “most current gun laws in order to protect Second Amendment rights.”
Alarmingly, perhaps, to gun rights advocates, majorities in all three categories appear to have forgotten that owning firearms is a right protected by the Second Amendment, because more people support mandatory testing, licensing and registration. No other constitutional right is subjected to such conditions. The Supreme Court majority opinion in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen (2022) essentially makes this clear when it notes, “We know of no other constitutional right that an individual may exercise only after demonstrating to government officers some special need. That is not how the First Amendment works when it comes to unpopular speech or the free exercise of religion. It is not how the Sixth Amendment works when it comes to a defendant’s right to confront the witnesses against him. And it is not how the Second Amendment works…”
The McCourtney poll also revealed “among Second Amendment advocates, 77 percent support universal background checks, 60 percent support a testing, licensing and registering process for guns similar to that of automobiles, and 52 percent support an assault weapons ban.”
MPR noted in its report, “It is noteworthy that the three firearm-restricting provisions included in this poll are supported by a majority of those who support eliminating “most current gun laws in order to protect Second Amendment rights.”
