It happened after Parkland, and now it happens once again after El Paso and Dayton. Donald Trump reportedly changed his mind on universal background checks after a phone call with the NRA.
After the Parkland shooting on February 14, 2018, Donald Trump was publicly for some changes to gun laws. He was public about it, but most things have gone in Trump's presidency, him saying something doesn't actually mean much. He backtracked after the NRA got in his ear.
Fast forward to 2019, more mass shootings, more Donald Trump public promises that go nowhere.
A few weeks later, and Mitch McConnell still doesn't call Congress back from recess because who cares about gun laws. It seemed strange because this is an important issue, but in retrospect, it doesn't seem strange because we should've known the president and Senate were never going to go against the NRA by whom many of them are well funded.
All of this is disappointing because most of the country does think we need gun control reform. If you're out on gun laws as a constituent or as an elected official, you're in the minority.
If for whatever reason you don't trust Quinnipiac, there are similar polling results from Gallup, Wall Street Journal, and Gallup.American voters support 94 - 4 percent requiring background checks for all gun buyers. Gun owners support universal background checks 90 - 9 percent.
Voters support 61 - 34 percent stricter gun laws in the U.S. Republicans, gun owners and voters in households where there is a gun are the only listed groups opposed.
Voters also support 77 - 19 percent requiring individuals to obtain a license before being able to purchase a gun.
Voters also support 63 - 33 percent a nationwide ban on the sale of assault weapons. Again, Republicans and gun owners are the only listed groups opposed, while voters in gun households are divided.
Quinnipiac
It's incredibly frustrating. Gun policy and climate change are two policies that poll pretty high in terms of public opinion, but congressional leaders do nothing about. To me, it simply seems that when you elect the nation's leader not on actual number of persons voting, and instead a vote's significance depends on where you live, this is what happens. Public opinion on policy and what the president targets as policy don't align.
We're the only country with this problem, I wrote about this two years ago. We're not the only country with mental health problems or video games. If you haven't given up on Donald Trump and a Republican Senate doing anything about gun control, it's time. This isn't a new problem.
Vote accordingly in 2020. Support groups like Moms Demand Action. Make it known to your local representative that sitting still on gun policy isn't an option.