Gun Control Reform Activism

Gun violence was always going to play a bigger role in 2016 than it has in any election in recent memory simply because of its sheer, in-your-face relevance: The nation can’t seem to go a week without a horrific shooting. But now that President Obama has taken action to bolster background checks and come out swinging against the National Rifle Association, joined by the leading Democratic presidential contenders, gun control has the potential to be the deciding issue of 2016. And it’s Democrats, for a change, who stand to benefit.

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But then we’re left with a question: Can the country elect a Democratic candidate who won’t run away from the gun lobby? The answer is yes. Democrats can not only survive a head-on battle with the NRA in 2016, but guns can help them win this election.

With or without Obama and Clinton’s embrace, the left was raring to fight the NRA in 2016. The rise of gun-control groups, including Michael Bloomberg’s Everytown for Gun Safety and former Representative Gabrielle Giffords’s Americans for Responsible Solutions will translate into millions more in pro-gun-control spending in battleground states. The NRA is gearing up for its own unprecedented campaign, too. The group’s legislative director, Chris Cox, said last fall the NRA wants to raise up to $75 million for the 2016 race, nearly doubling the $40 million it spent in 2008.

Democrats know they can win at least one argument: universal background checks, which are the core of both Clinton’s and Sanders’s proposals for better gun laws. As the graphic below shows, strong majorities in all the major 2016 swing states support universal background checks, according to Public Policy Polling.

https://newrepublic.com/article/127473/gun-control-can-swing-2016-election