Support for "universal background check" gun control legislation continues to drop in Ohio
by Chad D. Baus
Anyone who follows politics closely knows that, depending on how you ask the question, you can make a poll say almost anything.
In the wake of the horrendous attack on Sandy Hook Elementary last December, the media and anti-gun politicians were hell-bent on passing new laws to limit the sale of firearms, even though not one of the suggestions they were proposing would have prevented last year's shootings, or others like it in the future.
In March, Quinnipiac (KWIHN'-uh-pee-ak) University released a poll which stated that, when asked "Do you support or oppose requiring background checks for all gun buyers?," 90% of Ohioans said "support."
One month later, when asked the same vague question, 84% answered the same way - a 6% drop in just one month. (The same poll also found that a majority of Ohioans believe that "if there are background checks for all gun purchases the government will use that information in the future to confiscate legally-owned guns.")
At the time the results were released, I commented that the poll would be much more interesting if the question were worded as the proposed law would actually be implemented: "Do you support or oppose requiring background checks for all legal gun buyers rather than doing more to prevent criminals from obtaining guns illegally?" But alas, no pollster that I have found has decided to ask this much more realistic question.
Two months later, though, Quinnipiac is back again with poll results, and while they didn't ask the question I would like to see them ask, they did update the question from their last two rounds.
When asked, "Would you support or oppose a law requiring background checks on people buying guns at gun shows or online? IF SUPPORT OR OPPOSE: Do you feel that way strongly or somewhat?," only 61% said they "strongly support," with another 17% saying "somewhat support."
So according to Quinnipiac, we have gone from supposedly 90% support to 84% support to 78% support in just three months, and poll respondents are still not being asked real-world questions.
Quinnipiac's latest question is very misleading - it implies that background checks aren't already required for anyone purchasing a gun from a licensed dealer at a gun show (they are), and that background checks aren't already required for anyone purchasing a gun over the Internet and having it shipped (they are).
It's all in the way the question is worded, and there is no-where near the support for this gun control measure that Quinnipiac and the rest of the media want us to believe that there is.
Consider this: according to a national survey by the Pew Research Center and the Washington Post, 20% said were very happy the Senate blocked anti-gun rights legislation, while 19% said they are relieved.
Got that? This poll found that 39% of respondents are glad things turned out the way they did.
Additionally, the Pew numbers coincide with other recent polls, including a Quinnipiac poll which showed that, when asked "What do you think is the most important problem facing the country today?" respondents listed the economy, federal budget, politicians, health care and terrorism ahead of gun control. Likewise, a recent USAToday poll showed that support for the passage of ANY new gun control law is between 45-49%, and a recent Gallup poll found that only 4% of the population thinks gun control is actually an important issue.
That's right - according to Gallup, 96% of Americans don't think that gun control is an important issue. Somehow I don't expect that is the ninety-something percent statistic that will continue to be used in articles which continue to attempt to prime the pump for a second attempt at passing gun control in the Senate.
Indeed, the fact 96% of Americans don't think that gun control is an important issue, tiny protests like these (about a dozen showed up to protest the 86,228 NRA members at last month's Annual Meetings), as well as the fact that gun-control "special interest" groups keep having to change their name to hide their agenda, should help Senators like Rob Portman, who continues to be the target of attempts to sway his support for the Second Amendment, remain confident that they are on the right side of history.
Chad D. Baus is the Buckeye Firearms Association Vice Chairman.
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