Unfortunately - http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-12-28/has-the-nra-hijacked-american-gun-politics It's surprising the movement still hasn't caught on. I'm glad celebrities, who truly dictate the opinions and personalities of the American public, are rising to the occasion as wrinkly men in glasses aren't sexy enough to get the message across.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/159578/nra-favorable-image.aspx That last data point was taken post Newtown. If Clooney/Pitt expect politicians to go against public opinion, they are barking up the wrong tree. Politics is upstream of culture and public opinion. As it should be. They need to change those gallup numbers. Those that complain about the game being rigged are just bitter that they haven't won the argument. It's not about electing the right people. It's about making it politically advantageous for the wrong people to do the right thing. Also, I wonder how often Pitt/Clooney are protected by armed security.
The whole article is more insightful. http://www.gallup.com/poll/159578/nra-favorable-image.aspx It also helps show how difficult it is to look at random polls. 54% have a favorable view towards the NRA, but only 35% believe the NRA reflects their views about guns most of the time. Only 6% all of the time. I think Pitt/Clooney's point is a small organization's views about guns, which a minority of people believe reflect their own views, should hold much less sway, politically. This is a useless comment. I might be for stricter gun laws or even much stricter gun laws but still be in favor of gun laws that allow me to hire armed security to protect myself in situations where necessary.
I'm for gun control. I don't have a sane and realistic use for semi automatic weapons. "Fun" doesn't justify the cost to society. And if I was pulling in 40k, married with children, definitely a bad way to use my funds. A side arm or shotgun should be enough for home protection.
...have you ever heard of the police? or is that another function of government you want to get rid of.
I'm pretty ignorant on classification, but I'm certain most civilians don't realistically need semi to fully automatic rifles.
Most side arms don't hold as much ammo as, say, the assault rifle used in CT and aren't nearly as accurate, either.
30+ round magazines are available for Glocks, which I believe are the most popular handgun in the US. Aside from that, the deadliest mass shooting in US history was the Virginia Tech massacre. The perpetrator there used a 9mm Glock and a .22 Walther, was using only 10- and 15-round magazines and managed to kill 32 people before killing himself. It turns out that reloading a pistol is not a lengthy or complicated process, especially when no one is shooting back at you. Mass shootings also tend to occur at very short ranges, so accuracy is a non-issue. Sandy Hook, the Gabby Giffords shooting, Fort Hood, Aurora, etc. were all well within pistol range. These guys aren't shooting people at 200m or anything like that. "Assault Weapon" bans and the like are a solution looking for a problem.
You went from useless to completely idiotic. Clooney/Pitt can carry the guns for all I care, as long as it confirms to law... Which the point is should be made not based on the NRA's influence, but on actual best interest of the public.
I'm for strict gun control. We should ban guns and gun sales to all criminals and the mentally unstable. We should also forcefully confiscate all guns from criminals and the mentally unstable.
Come on, man....you can't claim the opinion in your first post and then turn around and say you're ignorant on that very subject in your ssecond post. It's detrimental to both sides of the argument, and is at least a large part of the reason why gun owners are, pardon the pun, so up in arms about all of this. As StupidMoniker said, most sidearms are semi-automatic. So are roughly a bajillion shotguns. So are a bajillion rifles, of the non-military/non-scary looking type. Automatic weapons are illegal for civilian purchase. A civilian CANNOT walk into a gun store or gun show and purchase one, nor can you "modify" a semi-automatic to suddenly become automatic. They simply don't work that way, despite what Hollywood might have you think.
The NRA represents a larger portion of the public than Clooney/Pitt. Notice they don't complain about any other political advocacy group, just the ones they disagree with.
The police cannot protect you from bad things happening unless they just happen to be right there when it happens. An armed bodyguard is at your side for the sole purpose of protecting you. If you need protection, and you rely on the police, you have already lost. The police will do a good job of finding who killed you...but then you're still dead.
We already have those laws in place. If you have been convicted of a felony or have a history of mental illness, you will not pass the background check for gun purchase. The next order of business is to rigidly enforce those laws and apply them to gun shows.
THe NRA has 4 million members. Their views don't align with the majority of Americans, according to polls you indirectly referenced
