Do you REALLY want more effective gun control? The currency that matters most to elected officials is votes and there are two websites that, when used together, can tell you which candidates are most likely to vote “your way” on gun control.
Ironically, the first of those sites is the NRA Political Victory Fund. NRA-POV has a rating system for active candidates in any election, and they usually endorse specific candidates. For example, here are their ratings for current candidates in Mississippi. If a candidate gets an A or a B, don’t vote for them!
Unfortunately, not all candidates are rated by the NRA, so you’ll also want to go to VoteSmart’s compilation of stats on how often an elected official’s votes aligned with NRA interests, ranging from 0 to 100 percent. It can be sorted by candidate names, states, voting record, and other fields.
For candidates who have to history in elected office and are currently unrated – ASK THEM! Demand that they take a clear, unequivocal position. And if they have held elected office before, also see if they’ve been criticized for changing their positions often – if they do, then they are higher risk to do the same on gun control if the NRA waves money under their noses.
A final bit of personal disclosure. I’m an oxymoron, a liberal gun owner, but then my first career was in military intelligence, so I know a bit about oxymorons. I am a strong proponent of moderate gun control, which means that I vehemently dislike the NRA. I believe it is possible for there to be personal ownership of weapons, but that there needs to be legally required training and periodically re-testing to go along with that – if you will, a DMV for gun owners. And that training MUST include use of a weapon for self-defense – not just use of a weapon to hit a stationary paper target. Separately, there urgently needs to be an improved mental health screening and treatment program nationwide, because such programs have been gutted in almost every State. With or without gun control, people with certain types of untreated mental health disorders can and will commit acts of violence using whatever they can get their hands on – gun, knife, etc.
Frankly, I think the basics of gun control legislation will be easier and quicker to achieve than getting substantive support for mental health programs, and at least that will be a great start to gun control that both honors the true spirit of the 2nd Amendment and doesn’t feed the NRA-fueled fears of gun owners who think their weapons are going to have to be pried from their cold, dead hands.
Jonathan Bernstein