In a poll conducted on behalf of the Democratic National Committee, the Benenson Strategy Group found that a large number of Americans have no idea how lax current gun control law is.
From The New York Times
Of the 50 percent of people who prefer enforcement over new laws — over half of whom are gun owners — 48 percent told us that federal laws prohibit the purchase of a weapon privately or at a gun show without a background check, while 10 percent simply admitted not knowing the rules. In other words, about 6 out of 10 people who believe we just need to do a better job of enforcing existing laws don’t realize that those laws are far weaker than they think. And just under half of those who want better enforcement don’t know that military-style assault weapons are, in fact, legal. [...]
A clear majority said they believe that the sale of guns to people on the terrorist watch list is banned. Another 29 percent said they don’t know. Such sales are not banned, and the Government Accountability Office has reported that in 2010 alone 247 people on the terrorist watch list passed a background check and legally purchased guns.
Similarly, 33 percent believe that federal law requires authorities to be notified when people purchase large amounts of ammunition in a short period — also not the case — and 42 percent don’t know whether it is illegal to buy ammunition over the Internet — it isn’t.
And suddenly it becomes clear why the fear that the government is coming to snatch our guns (today) and the fear that of the government coming to snatch our healthcare (2010) is so similar.
Not only is the president dealing with an intransigent congress that’s too afraid of the boogeyman to tackle gun violence in a serious way, he’s also dealing with this. An ignorant populace that simply has no idea what’s going on.
How much of this due to misinformation from the NRA and politicians, and how much is due to a lack of attentiveness on the part of the media is up for debate, but ultimately Americans have only themselves to blame for the next massacre.
(H/T TPM)