Wednesday, August 15, 2012

What the Gun Control Movement Can Learn from Gay Rights

The Atlantic Wire published a fascinating article about how the gun-control movement might improve its approach.  Basically, taking a cue from the marriage-equality movement, gun control folks need to mobilize some wealthy backers.

Which gets at what may be the most important difference between the push for gay marriage and the push for more effective regulation of guns: When gay-rights advocates achieved their marriage victory in New York, they benefited from a relatively weak and poorly organized opposition movement. That's a luxury that gun control advocates will never have.

But if Bloomberg and other wealthy supporters of gun control were to create a single-issue Super-PAC, seed it with $200 million, hire experienced operatives to scare on-the-fence legislators and protect rebels, the political fight with the N.R.A. would start looking a lot fairer, fast. 
Why do you think the gun-control folks haven't already done this? Wouldn't it be fairly easy to find a handful of super-rich supporters who could come up with a couple hundred million? I would imagine some of them would contribute big just to thwart the NRA.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

5 comments:

  1. "Why do you think the gun-control folks haven't already done this? Wouldn't it be fairly easy to find a handful of super-rich supporters who could come up with a couple hundred million?"

    You fail because you have yet to grasp the true concept: a handful of supporters contributing millions cannot beat millions contributing handfuls.

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  2. The gay rights movement is working to increase rights. Your side seeks to curtail rights. That's the difference. But hey, you've got George Soros. What else do you need?

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  3. LOL, "Boo Who Whoo, the NRA paper tiger has real supporters and gun control doesn't."

    The problem is that the gun control movement did have financing, and they squandered that money away because there is no monetary support from the citizens. The gun control few, bitch and moan about the NRA and it's budget but where do think that money comes from? What's that you say? from the gun manufacturers you say? and the gun manufacturers get their money from where? Yeah, from the people that support the 2A.

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  4. Somehow I dont belive it has to do with anything about being out spent. It has everything to do with what the masses want.

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  5. I wonder if Mikie's handful contributed their "seed money" what kind of organization they would build? You wouldn't have 70,000 people at their convention every year but think how much armed security would be around that handful when they did meet.

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