In spite of the constant news coverage of the gun control debate, an overwhelming majority of Americans don’t believe the availability of guns is to blame for the increase in mass shootings, but cite problems such as parents who don’t pay enough attention to their children and the lack of effective treatment for mental illness as being more to blame for the problem.
Newsmax is reporting that a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll reveals that 83 percent of Americans said the number one reason for the upsurge in gun violence in the U.S. is “parents not paying enough attention to what is going on in their children’s lives.”
The second reason, according to 82 percent of respondents, was “the lack of effective treatment for mental illness.”
Third on the list was “the amount of media coverage of mass shootings” (67 percent) followed by “movies, television programs, and video games that portray violence and violent behavior” (62 percent).
The availability of assault and military-style firearms came in a distant number five.
The poll also found that support for stricter gun laws is actually lower now than it was during the 1990’s when the passage of an assault weapons ban was blamed for stunning defeats at the ballot box for the Democratic party in 1994.
In fact, Politico reports that former President Bill Clinton warned a group of top Democratic donors this weekend not to underestimate the average American’s respect for the right to bear arms.
“A lot of these people live in a world very different from the world lived in by the people proposing these things,” Clinton said. “I know because I come from this world.”
He went on to suggest that lawmakers may be overplaying their hand in a way that will reinvigorate the Tea Party movement and reproduce the same devastating defeats in 2014 that were seen in 1994.
“A lot of these people … all they’ve got is their hunting and their fishing,” Clinton said.
He added: “Do not be self-congratulatory about how brave you are being for this” gun control push, he said. “The only brave people are the people who are going to lose their jobs if they vote with you.”
© All Rights Reserved, Living His Life Abundantly®/Women of Grace® http://www.womenofgrace.com
