Explore The NRA Universe Of Websites

APPEARS IN News Second Amendment

Keep Calm and Carry On: Pro-Gun Sentiment Reasserts Itself in Wake of Antigun Blitz

Friday, April 20, 2018

Keep Calm and Carry On: Pro-Gun Sentiment Reasserts Itself in Wake of Antigun Blitz

Like the long-delayed coming of spring to the Mid-Atlantic, evidence is appearing that Americans are regaining their senses and reverting to an instinctual embrace of freedom after a withering barrage of some the nastiest and most ugly anti-gun campaigning in memory.

There is nothing more predictable than the tendency of gun control advocates to exploit tragedy. Yet the post-Parkland media and activist blitz still managed to dubiously distinguish itself for its intensity, its hyperbole, its vitriol, its shrillness, and perhaps for its overreach. 

America’s former gun-grabber in chief, Barack Obama, even weighed in from retirement on what he characterized as “our children … calling us to account.” Anti-gunners tried to project an air of inevitability and of sea change. As Mr. Obama put it, “This time, something different is happening.”

The real “difference,” however, may well have been the ability of social media and 24/7 “news” broadcasts to pervasively promote and amplify a narrative so insistently that it seemed futile – if not dangerous – to offer any counterpoint. 

Antigun student activists who emerged from Parkland characterized anyone who opposed or refused their demands in the most condemning of terms. 

Speaking of politicians who “take money from the NRA,” one told an interviewer on CNN:

If they accept this blood money, they are against the children. They are against the people who are dying. And that is -- that's -- there's no other way to put it at this point. You're either funding the killers or you are standing with the children.

Another immediately chimed in after that comment, characterizing the NRA as “child murderers.”

Americans, generous and compassionate as they are, let the rage play on for some time.

But now signs are increasingly pointing toward the conclusion that America remains a pro-gun nation and that the intensity of the Parkland activism may not be matched by lasting shifts in opinion.

According to polling by Gallup, concern about guns or gun control surged in March, with a record 13% of Americans citing it as the nation’s most important problem (the Parkland murders occurred on Feb. 14, followed by a coordinated school walkout on March 14 and coordinated protest marches on March 24).

On Tuesday, however, Gallup said that percentage had fallen by over half, to 6%. The drop was roughly equal among both Republicans and Democrats. The polling was conducted during April 2-11. 

As Gallup noted in its analysis, changes in public opinion on firearms after high profile firearm-related crimes “have tended to be temporary.” And while the analysts were unwilling to rule out the possibility that Parkland could represent a “turning point in the gun debate,” they had words of caution for those who insist it already has been. “[T]he fact that mentions of guns dropped among both Republicans and Democrats, and at nearly equal measures, could pose challenges for the continued viability of this topic as a national issue,” the analysis concluded. 

In a national poll conducted by Quinnipiac University during Feb. 16-19, 66% of respondents supported stricter gun laws in the U.S., a record high for the Quinnipiac poll, with 31% in opposition to stricter laws.

Less than a month later, during Quinnipiac polling conducted during April 6-9, the percentage of overall respondents supporting stricter gun laws had fallen 10 points, to 56%. Opposition to stricter laws had also risen 8 points, to 39%. 

Negative views of the NRA also fell 8 points between March 6 and April 11, while positive views increased by a point, according to Quinnipiac polling. 

A major theme of the post-Parkland activism has been that the youth vote will finally sway national politics in favor of gun control. But that narrative also took a hit with Tampa Bay Times report on Wednesday, which indicated that all the drama is not translating into increased voter registration among teenagers and young adults. 

“Across six of the seven largest counties,” the article stated, “there were 4,500 fewer registrations among 16- to 25-year-olds compared to the same point in 2014. The largest county, Miami-Dade, could not provide historical data for registrations.” This trend held, according to the article, even in Broward County, where Parkland is located, with 2,700 fewer registrations in that age bracket. 

Of course, this is not to say that America’s gun owners can now rest assured that their rights are secure. Several states buckled to the demands of gun control advocates in the immediate wake of the Parkland tragedy, including the traditionally Second Amendment-friendly jurisdictions of Florida and Vermont.

And as we reported last week, certain banks and other private businesses – some with ties to well-known gun control advocates – are attempting to marginalize and manipulate customers in the firearms industry and create a culture of condemnation around Second Amendment supporters.  

The lesson, as always, is that the fight will continue. But gun owners can take heart that Americans have a way of reverting to respect for their time-honored liberties as emotions cool and reason regains a foothold in the public conversation.

TRENDING NOW
First Affirmative Lawsuit in Support of Gun Owners Filed by Trump’s DOJ

News  

Monday, October 6, 2025

First Affirmative Lawsuit in Support of Gun Owners Filed by Trump’s DOJ

California officials’ egregious foot-dragging over the issuance of carry permits has finally attracted the ire of the federal Department of Justice (DOJ). 

California: Governor Newsom Signs Gun Control Bills Into Law

Monday, October 13, 2025

California: Governor Newsom Signs Gun Control Bills Into Law

For someone who has claimed to be"...deeply mindful and respectful of the Second Amendment and people’s Constitutional rights,” Governor Gavin Newsom has once again proven that actions speak louder than words.

FBI Persists in Underreporting Armed Citizen Defensive Gun Use

News  

Monday, October 13, 2025

FBI Persists in Underreporting Armed Citizen Defensive Gun Use

Three years ago, Dr. John Lott of the Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC), writing for RealClearInvestigations, described how the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was vastly undercounting, “by an order of more than three the number of instances in ...

NRA Files Another Lawsuit Challenging the National Firearms Act

Thursday, October 9, 2025

NRA Files Another Lawsuit Challenging the National Firearms Act

Today, the National Rifle Association—along with the American Suppressor Association, Firearms Policy Coalition, and Second Amendment Foundation—announced the filing of another lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA).

Firearm Prohibition Advocates Mute on Jay Jones “Two Bullets to the Head” Scandal

News  

Monday, October 13, 2025

Firearm Prohibition Advocates Mute on Jay Jones “Two Bullets to the Head” Scandal

Democrat Jay Jones, candidate for Virginia attorney general, still has not suspended his campaign, even as pressure mounts over disclosures that should disqualify, to put it mildly, any individual from serving as the chief law ...

North Carolina: Update on Permitless Carry

Tuesday, September 30, 2025

North Carolina: Update on Permitless Carry

Last week the North Carolina General Assembly briefly returned from recess and re-referred Senate Bill 50, Freedom to Carry NC, to the House Rules Committee.

NRA Files Lawsuit Challenging California’s Glock Ban

Monday, October 13, 2025

NRA Files Lawsuit Challenging California’s Glock Ban

Today, the National Rifle Association—along with Firearms Policy Coalition, Second Amendment Foundation, Poway Weapons & Gear, and two NRA members—filed a lawsuit challenging California’s Glock ban.

Canada’s Public Safety Minister on Gun Ban & Confiscation: “Don’t Ask Me to Explain the Logic”

News  

Monday, September 29, 2025

Canada’s Public Safety Minister on Gun Ban & Confiscation: “Don’t Ask Me to Explain the Logic”

There have been multiple developments on the Canadian gun grab and ban in the last few days, but the most astounding has got to be a leaked bombshell recording of the Liberal Public Safety Minister, ...

Rehearing En Banc Sought in NRA-Supported Challenge to New Jersey’s Carry Restrictions

Wednesday, October 8, 2025

Rehearing En Banc Sought in NRA-Supported Challenge to New Jersey’s Carry Restrictions

Today, the National Rifle Association announced the filing of a petition for rehearing en banc in Siegel v. Platkin, a challenge to New Jersey’s carry restrictions.

NRA Files Amicus Brief Urging SCOTUS to Hear Challenge to Ban on Firearms Possession by Nonviolent Felons

Thursday, October 9, 2025

NRA Files Amicus Brief Urging SCOTUS to Hear Challenge to Ban on Firearms Possession by Nonviolent Felons

Today, the National Rifle Association, along with the Second Amendment Foundation, Firearms Policy Coalition, and FPC Action Foundation, filed an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a challenge to the federal lifetime prohibition on ...

MORE TRENDING +
LESS TRENDING -

More Like This From Around The NRA

NRA ILA

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the "lobbying" arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.