We all knew it was going to happen eventually, and there would be nothing the mainstream media could do to stop it — the anti-gun hysteria that flooded the headlines after the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida is finally fading.
According to a new Gallup poll, the percentage of Americans who considered guns and gun control to be their top political concern halved between March and April 2018. This follows the general norm following politicized mass shootings, as similar drops occurred following the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, 2016’s shooting at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, and similar incidents inbetween.
“Past shootings, such as the 2012 incident at Sandy Hook Elementary School, have changed at least some aspect of public opinion related to gun control, but these effects have tended to be temporary,” Gallup reported.
In March, 13 percent of Americans pulled by Gallup listed gun control as their top political priority — making guns the leading issue right behind dissatisfaction with government at 22 percent. Just one month later, that number fell to just 6 percent, falling behind illegal immigration at 11 percent — up from 9 percent the month before.
For a while, it appeared that the anti-gun sentiment among Americans was never going to go away. Gallup further reported that March saw the highest levels of support for gun control since 1993. The sentiment was exacerbated by high-profile student demonstrations (with a suspicious amount of adults involved), and considerable media attention given to survivors of the most recent attack. Students like Emma Gonzalez and David Hogg became household names due to their political activism after the shooting.
To be sure, this does not mean that the Second Amendment is safe. The likes of Hogg and Gonzalez are still frequent guests on CNN and other left-leaning broadcasters, and progressive politicians are still touting out blatant anti-Second Amendment talking points. The March for Our Lives demonstration, while billed as a simple sign of solidarity with mass shooting victims, was effectively turned into a left-of-center rallying cry for the Democratic Party.
It’s good for America’s gun owners that gun control is finally falling back into the back-burner, but it is imperative that Second Amendment supporters don’t drop their guard. In the tragic event of another mass shooting, you can bet the issue will soar to the top of the media’s docket once again.
~ Firearm Daily
