On guns and liberals

[mcroft]

immlass wrote about a local response to gun ownership that seemed overly het-up.

When I lived in Houston, I listened to KPFT, a station whose parent was originally started by pacifists during WWII (yes, there were some). KPFT used to do things like make enemies out of the Klan (who bombed their tower off the air) and my favorite local bar (who thought they were high-handed idiots).

On one sunny summer afternoon, some KPFT interview show was interviewing a woman who ran a rape-crisis hotline training center. Trainees would come to her facility to be trained in how to cope with women who called in to talk to someone about being raped. The facility was in rural Alabama and the woman happened to be a lesbian.

Some part of what she did (either with or for other women) offended her neighbors. She was threatened and the police were not helpful. Someone dumped a dead dog at her mailbox.

"Do you think something might actually happen?" asked the host.

"Oh, yes," replied the woman. "We've had people shoot onto our property."

"Oh, my God!," said the interviewer. "Do you at least have guns of your own?"

"Of course we do!" said the woman, almost indignant that the question would be asked.

And that, my friends, is the difference between southern liberals and northern liberals. Gun ownership is not abstract. It is about protecting ourselves from those who don't care that we're doing something legal that don't like.

Comments

[mcroft.livejournal.com]

Yes, geographic location is one of the known differences.

From the introductory paragraphs of a study of attitudes towards gun control.

Generally, recent polls show that the public is in favor of stricter gun control laws (Moore & Newport, 1994; PR Newswire, 2000). While the public as a whole supports stricter gun control laws, differences in attitudes concerning gun control have been noted. For instance, past research indicates that differences in attitudes towards gun control exist on several overlapping levels including region of country, gentler, race, urbanization, familiarity with guns, and weapons training classes. Mom specifically, research indicates the following regarding gun control:

* There are regional differences with Southerners more prone to opposing gun control than individuals from other regions of the country, although some evidence suggests that the regional differences are exaggerated (Brennan, Lizzotte, & McDowall, 1993; Livingston & Lee, 1992; Mauder, 1990; Moore & Newport, 1994; Mundt, 1990).

* Males are more likely to oppose gun control than females are (Ellison, 1991; Kauder, 1993; Livingston & Lee, 1992; Marciniak & Loftin, 1991; Moore & Newport, 1994; Tyler & Lavrakas, 1983; Webster, Gainer & Champion, 1993).

* Whites are more likely to oppose gun control efforts than are blacks (McClain, 1983; Secret & Johnson, 1989).

* Those who live in urban counties are more likely to support gun control efforts than those who live in rural counties (Boor & Blair, 1990; Kauder, 1994; Price, Desmond, & Smith, 1991).

* Those who are familiar with guns are more likely to oppose gun control than those who are not familiar with guns (Ellison, 1991; Hill, Howell, & Driver, 1985; Lizotte, Tesoriero, Thornberry, & Krohn, 1994; Rosen, 2000; Tyler & Lavrakas, 1983).

* Those who have head weapons safety classes are more opposed to gun control than those who have not (Livingston & Lee, 1992).

None of this research is really surprising, and the Southern/white/rural/male/gun-using group does tend to be politically powerful.