Letters to the Editor
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What's The Matter With Gun Owners?
"To win elections, Democrats need to reason with gun owners rather than insult them."
When have Democrats "insulted" gun owners? This is a fallacy right up there with "the Democrats sneer at religion." Where is the evidence to back it up?
And how do you "reason" with people who buy into the sleazy Republican scare tactics hook, line and sinker, and who reflexively, in classic Pavlovian style, push the Republican lever -- flagrantly voting against most of their own basic self-interests -- any time someone screams, "They're gonna take away yer guns!!"
Maybe Thomas Frank's next book should be called, "What's The Matter With Gun Owners?" as this seems to be another of those "values"-related issues that people make stupid, blind assumptions about, based on rank emotion and a poor grasp of the facts.
In the meantime, the Democrats should chip away at the issue in a non-frightening fashion, much the way you tiptoe around people who are a little, well, off. Start with the assault weapons ban, which most people support, and send up a clean, rider-free bill. Dare Bush, who claims to support the ban, if only anaemically, to veto it. Then go on from there.
They should also remember that one of their main -- and growing -- constituencies is suburbia, which is generally on their side on this issue, and will likely be increasingly concerned about it in light of this week's massacre on a college campus. They shouldn't make the mistake they've made so frequently before, of pandering to a constituency that largely holds them in contempt while ignoring those who agree with them.