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ELITISM

Gun Owners Aren't 'Real Americans'

TNR writer says Democrats should quit trying to court hunters

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by David Mark

Editor-in-Chief t

Image: AP.

President Barack Obama's skeet shooting boasts are a waste of time. So are other efforts by Democrats to identify with hunters. Non-gun owners are the "real Americans," writes Timothy Noah in The New Republic.

Noah argues Democrats should embrace anti-gun principles because liberal values are winning out in public opinion. "More Americans now support gay marriage than oppose it. Universal health care survived a Supreme Court challenge and a presidential election. Grover Norquist's anti-tax pledge has lost its juju."

So why even try to win the gun owner vote? "We think of people who own guns as real Americans, but they represent only 21 percent of the population; the great majority of us don't own guns."

He concludes: "The most generous thing you can say about the hallowed tradition of hunting is that its dwindling popularity means its relevance to American gun culture is dwindling, too. Gun ownership turns out to be one of those things (like income) that during the past three decades became extremely concentrated in a few hands."

Via The New Republic.

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  • u
    cpeter133
    !
    Funny how neocons are defending the constitution but spend their free time trying to take away the rights of women to make their own medical decisions.
  • horsehockey
    !
    @NTBFW that's no stretch at all. It's merely individual perception. Women are voters, unborn fetus' aren't. BTW, how does one "protect the rights" of something that isn't born yet?
  • Zazziness
    !
    @NTBFW No, you're not. I checked and the same people who claim a fetus is a full human will not charge a baby with murder if it killed its twin while in the womb. So you don't *really* think a zygote is the same as a born human being, do you?

  • View all 17 replies >

  • marine1
    !
    Thjis guy doesn't understand the difference beyween big city democrats that exist and live off of welfare versus small community democrats that work for a liveing and take pride in the fact that they can support their family without goverment hand outs. These same small community democrats teach their kids to fish,hunt and to take pride in self accomplishments. No this guy has not a clue as to what a real democrat is all about.
  • u
    seedtick
    !
    This so-called pundit is a real penis. I wonder who's holding him when he pours out something like this? I doubt anyone is....he's just dangling around peeing in the wind.
  • Rocker
    !
    @marine1 - You guys wanna hear a good one?? Do a search on State of Maryland Legislative Bill S.B. 411, a bill to decrease the state's corporate taxation. Introduced by.......... Democrats??
  • Knightkore
    !
    http://www.gallup.com/poll/20098/Gun-Ownershi...

    Gun Ownership

    The poll, conducted Oct. 13-16, finds that 4 in 10 Americans report they have a gun in their homes, including 30% who say they personally own a gun and 12% who say another member of their household owns it. These results show essentially no change since this question was last asked in 2000. At that time, 27% of Americans said they personally owned a gun and 14% said another household member owned one.

    {This was done a little earlier....gun ownership has risen since....his stats are a bit low....}
  • SavageMazx
    !
    @Knightmare you beat me to it. Typical politics, distort the fax to fit the argument. It's done by both sides to try to get votes.
  • jmiller94
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    @Knightmare and that's just the ones who were truthful. If someone called me up and asked if I own a gun, I would say no and hang up. None of their damned business.
  • frigginhell
    !
    Or maybe some of us were never asleep to begin with and don't just mindlessly agree with everything anyone says because they might say something we like on another subject.
  • jessejaymes
    !
    This sort of left wing BS is why Al Gore didn't follow Clinton to the presidency. Every time the Dems get an 8 year run they immediately go off the deep end ad start alienating the majority of Citizens. Holy crap. They're going to do it again. The Liberals are just as stupid as the Tea Party people. You don't win and fix things, you win and start oppressing the rights of the American people. Wave bye bye presidency Liberals. You're going to blow it again.
  • Tralee
    !
    Couldn't agree more, and I've said the same thing over and over lately. And, I'm sorry to have to agree with you, but they ALWAYS over reach, every single time. America just isn't a center left country, never has been and never will be.
  • jessejaymes
    !
    @Tralee I disagree. America is very much a center country. Sometimes leaning left, sometimes leaning right. But what the majority of voters are not is SCREAMING extremists and this is exactly what the left is doing about guns.
  • Tralee
    !
    @jessejaymes Never been a center/left country, really, it's always been a center/right country. That's how Clinton survived to serve a second term with ease, he tacked to the center. They are screaming extremists about more than guns, but right now gun ownership is the topic.
  • jessejaymes
    !
    @Tralee You can ask any liberal on here and they will tell you I'm right leaning to a serious degree. yet I support socialized medicine with all my right wing other things. I am pretty representative of the middle. I got back and forth across the line issue by issue.
  • jaybebo84
    !
    Queue in the Libertarian movement...looks like a third party could be on the horizon sooner than we think with this kind of idealogy spews from the liberal masses...and the neocons without ideas and kowtowing the liberals...

  • View all 14 replies >

  • miketost
    !
    So much for America protecting the constitution and minorities.25% own guns with over 300 million guns out there,I hope the 75% without live within seconds of police protection.Like having life insurance its a choice dont expect me to feel bad when you pass away and you chose to leave your family penny-less.You still were an American however.What an assnine statement to brand gun owners as not real Americans.
  • Neo_NtheMatrix
    !
    LIBERALS JUST STOP IT. STOP!!!!

    We will not repeal the 2nd Amendment. Oh no we won't.

    I seriously worry about some of you. Look, we have the right o gun ownership, guaranteed in the Constitution. We won't, can't, and shall not let you and obama trample over the Constitution. It is our right. We will continue to abide by it.

    Gun ownership is what keeps this country safe. Yes, even the stupid New Republic writer Timothy Noah is protected by gun ownership. He should be thanking those of us who continue to support freedom and liberty instead of trying to denigrate us.

    Not real Americans? Anyone who craps on the Constitution like obama and Noah are the ones that are not real Americans!

  • View all 9 replies >

  • Tralee
    !
    Just more evidence that the Democrats have no real clue what the meaning of the word they say they are, "Inclusive", means. So, no gun owners, no conservatives, no white men, no conservative women, no women over 35, no one who wants to regulate abortion, no one who makes over $100,000 a year and no one who owns a business or has a successful career. So far, is that it? You guys are excluding more and more people, soon you will be in a real minority. R's are the one's with an open tent for real, dems. want only those who adhere to the strict party line and never, ever, stray with a random thought that is not scripted by the DNC.
  • AlexMIA
    !
    That is why they have a female democrat running for an Illinois position getting hammered by her own party for not falling in line on gun control. I hope the people are smart enough to elect her.
  • u
    mtkopf
    !
    @AlexMIA Debbie Halvorson is getting hammered on gun control because the 2nd Congressional district is comprised of 55% African american voters; the same 55% who live with gunfire every single day. The same 55% feel that gun control is a major issue in their neighborhoods. So, if Bloomberg's PAC informs the voters that Halvorson is owned by the NRA, that is something those ppl should know.

    See Alex, these are the pesky little facts you can't read about on your conservative websites and you don't hear about from your
    conservative pundits.
  • AlexMIA
    !
    @mtkopf Yes, pesky facts, like the fact that gun control on law abiding citizens will do nothing to stem the violence in those neighborhoods! So who's really for the people? The gun control lobby or the NRA? Keep fighting the man bro!

  • View all 19 replies >

  • AlexMIA
    !
    So now all gun owners are homophobes? Nevermind that, only 21% are gun owners and disagree with gun control? I get it, it's opposite day! Thats most polls show 70-80% for guns, not gun control. Even on Politix! No offense, you guys do seem to curve left. I can relate!
  • Knightkore
    !
    http://knue.com/americans-own-guns-survey/

    Gun ownership is at an 18-year high, according to a new Gallup poll.

    Forty-seven percent of Americans report having a gun in their home or elsewhere on their property, up from 41 percent last year and the most since 1993 when 54 percent reported gun ownership.

    More men (52 percent) own guns than woman (43 percent). The regional gap is even more stark, with 54 percent of the adults in the south owning guns compared to only 36 percent in the east.

    Gallup does warn that this is a self-reported survey, meaning the uptick in the percentage of Americans saying they own guns could be influenced by how comfortable people feel with telling a pollster they own a gun.

    {Guess this progressive liberal wants to ignore the 47 percent with guns....didn't they learn....from Romney's mistake?}
  • u
    callmecrazy
    !
    No he doesn't have his numbers right, not even close. Oddly enough I support things like gay marriage and raising minimum wage along with a few other Dem ideas...even swing that way at times, but if gun control is going to be the issue of the day my votes will go all Republican from now on. I suspect a lot of other swing voters - and Democrats - own guns as well and will do the same thing.
  • DARSB
    !
    @callmecrazy His numbers reflect the declining numbers of gun owners and the fading popularity of hunting. Seriously, this has been a trend for years. I don't like his conclusion, and I don't think his argument supports it, but he is quoting accurate stats.
  • u
    callmecrazy
    !
    @DARSB. Accurate stats from where? I'm sure we could both find polls going each way but all are flawed by demographics and more importantly because they rely on self-reporting which many gun owners just won't do anymore. It may be 21% where you live but you'd have a hard time finding any homes without a gun here in Appalachia.

    And while hunting has faded recently, there's a new growing group of gun owners taking their place. Women. Truth is, if only 21% of Americans really owned guns then why do a majority of Americans still oppose blanket gun bans?
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