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It is important, of course, to distinguish between the large majority of law-abiding gun owners and the small number of extremists. Only about 30 percent of gun owners have owned an AR-15 or similar rifle, a majority support common sense gun restrictions and a majority reject political violence. …

Democrats, while they may hope for stricter gun laws overall, should also recognize that they do share common ground with many gun owners — armed right-wing extremists and those who fetishize AR-15s do not represent typical American gun owners or their beliefs. That’s especially true given the changing nature of who owns guns in the United States: women and Black Americans are among the fastest-growing demographics.

This summer, for the first time in decades, Congress passed major bipartisan gun safety legislation — a major accomplishment and a sign that common ground is not terra incognita. It should have gone further — and can in the future: preventing anyone under 21 from buying a semiautomatic weapon, for instance, and erasing the 10-year sunset of the background-check provision. States should also be compelled to pass tougher red-flag laws to take guns out of the hands of suicidal or potentially violent people. Mandatory gun-liability insurance is also an idea with merit.

States and the federal government should also pass far tougher regulations on the gun industry, particularly through restrictions on the marketing of guns, which have helped supercharge the cult of the AR-15. New York’s law, which allows parties like victims of gun violence and the state government to sue gun sellers, manufacturers and distributors, is a good model for other states to follow.

Federal regulators should also do more to regulate the arms industry’s marketing practices, which are becoming more deadly and deranged by the year. They have the legal authority to do so but, thus far, not the will to act.

Americans are going to live with a lot of guns for a long time. There are already more than 415 million guns in circulation, including 25 million semiautomatic military-style rifles. Calls for confiscating them — or even calls for another assault weapons ban — are well intentioned and completely unrealistic. With proper care and maintenance, guns made today will still fire decades from now. Each month, Americans add nearly two million more to the national stockpile.

But even if common-sense regulation of guns is far from political reality, Americans do not have to accept the worst of gun culture becoming pervasive in our politics. The only hope the nation has for living in and around so many deadly weapons is a political system capable of resolving our many differences without the need to use them.

— New York Times Editorial Board in America’s Toxic Gun Culture

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

93 COMMENTS

  1. “Each month, Americans add nearly two million more to the national stockpile.”

    Buy more guns. And ammo. As much as you can afford. Overwhelm the “commonsense gun regulation” folks. Revolvers, semi-autos, bolt-actions, lever guns, doesn’t matter.

    Keep buying.

  5. The NYT has never supported the 1st amendment. The ACLU has never supported the 1st amendment. They have outright refused to support the 2nd amendment. The ACLU has never supported civil rights. They and people like them however, do support burning the flag. They support burning a cross. They support burning a cross on the private property of a black person. They support pornography. They support folks who want to wear well fitted s3x toys in public.

    And none of those things have anything to do with the 1st amendment. Just as hunting has nothing to do with the 2nd amendment. You can have all of those things if you want them. But they have nothing to do with a bill of rights.

    100 years ago christians were murdered because they were praying in public. Now 100 years later christians are once again being persecuted. They are being arrested because they are praying in public.

    It’s time for a peaceful national divorce.

    • The most we could possibly hope for, short of a national divorce, would be a true federalism whereby the individual States could largely govern themselves; however, it is difficult to see how that would work when so many of them disregard the most basic and fundamental tenets of the Constitution.

      • Our taxes are too darned high! When legislators can hand Ukraine billions and think we’re okay with it and even if we aren’t who cares because there is more where that came from. It’s well past time to reign them in.

    • “100 years ago christians were murdered because they were praying in public“

      “They are being arrested because they are praying in public“

      Please tell us more about these incidents you speak of.

        • Unfortunately for your prayer protesters, it is unlawful to block the access to a private business.

          They can make claims about public sidewalks but the fact is, in their own statement they admit that what they were doing was unlawful, from your link:

          “They told Catholic News Service May 21 before their act of civil disobedience as part of the “pray-in” alongside other religious leaders… “

          See, that’s the idea of “civil disobedience” as protest, you go into it knowing you will be arrested because you’re committing an unlawful act as protest.

          Despite your insults, the claims about “being arrested for praying” are spurious and without merit.

          “Kneel on the steps of the Capitol building… “

          And with that statement, you are just lying.

          Neither of your linked articles has anything to do with being arrested on the steps of the Capitol. One is regarding blocking the entrance to the Planned Parenthood offices in DC, the other concerns blocking the rotunda in the United States Capitol.

          In both cases, the protesters were intentionally violating long established laws regarding both private property and the Capitol rotunda.

        • to Miner49er

          “Unfortunately for your prayer protesters, it is unlawful to block the access to a private business.”

          Thank you for bringing this up. As I have said before people like you have never supported the 1st amendment. It’s ok to block a militatry recruiting center. The ACLU fought to make it legal. But not an abortion clinic. The ACLU never fought to support christian protesters at abortion clinics.

          “Four legs good. Two legs bad.”

          You are just another example of the anti-civil rights communist/fascist we have here on TTAG.

        • MINOR Miner49er. To block a staircase as wide as the Capitol Building’s would require a person to weight at least a couple of thousand lbs. If there is area AROUND the protesters, they are NOT blocking. Nice try, Lefty, but that train can’t even reach the station. The arrest is bogus as you.

    • The anti-gun media uses misleading headlines and changes the narrative of the story to spin it in their favor. You are doing the same with this incident? It was a protest not a prayer service. If their were enough of them and depending on where they were located, they could very well have impeded access to the capitol. Impeded in this case, forced people to have to go out of their way to access the building. So you need to decide, either if it’s wrong for the media to mislead or misrepresent a story the same applies to us. Anything other is hypocrisy.

  6. Confusing; while ARs and similar are in “common use,” the 30% of us who own the 20 million or so of them supposedly “fetishize” them and are in the company of “armed extremists?”

    They (Democrats and their catamite media) just can’t help but pour their moral sanctitude all over everything.

    And no, the majority of law abiding and responsible gun owners do not support gun control albeit “common sense and reasonable.”

    • Remember, according to the federal government, over half the murders committed with guns are committed by young black men between the ages of 15 and 30. That particular demographic votes over 80% Democrat.

      So, Democrats want to outlaw Democrats from owning guns.
      Democrats make their case by pointing to all the Democrats who kill people with guns.

      • Classic circular reasoning.

        Chicago introduced mandatory sentencing for those who used guns to commit crimes; however “a coalition of Black lawmakers blocked it, claiming it was just a recipe to lock up more Blacks and Latinos.” Chicago Tribune, October 2015

        • I agree, Democrats engage in circular reasoning. Or, rather, Democrats draw up their wagons in a circle to defend themselves from other Democrats.

          White Democrats want to take guns from black Democrats. Black Democrats fight to keep white Democrats from taking their guns. White Democrats point to the deaths caused by black Democrats as justification for taking guns from black Democrats. Black Democrats justifiably claim that the whole thing is a scheme by white Democrats to jail black Democrats.

          Conservatives think they are the target of white Democrat gun control. In fact, they are just collateral damage in a civil war between white and black Democrats.

  7. “gun-liability insurance”

    Ironic, since it is actually whiny defenseless victims who are the liability. How about scutage instead?

    • Last night in a formerly “good” Chiraq hood 3 people were murdered & one gal was shot in the head who may die-outside of a bar. The young TV doofus claimed a gun killed them. No dummy a pos human pulled the trigger on an inanimate object. Until we get swift & severe punishment for evildoers nothing will change(ILLANNOY abolished the death penalty). Quit blaming me & us POTG. AND EFF DIMS! PS: I’m not giving up my rifle…

  8. Funny how they bemoan gun manufacturers marketing their products but ignore the biggest marketer of guns ever, Hollywood

    John McClane why I wanted a 92

    • Let’s not forget Dirty Harry and the 44 magnum revolver or Han Solo and the Broomhandle. Then there are all kinds of westerns that made the lever action rifle so attractive. Miami Vice with the Bren Ten and Hunter with his Detonics too.

    • I never pid any attention to who carid what in the flickers. I wante a 92 the instant I picked one iup from a gun show counter and held it. I dropped the cash and (legally) waled out with it, no phone calls necessary. My Mother was dead by then so I did not need to ask permission. ‘I’ve since managed to find a couple more. If memory serves, about $400 each. Browing High Powers same story. The Holy Wierdoes can hold whatev3r prop guns they want on the screen. If it wORKS and FITS, I don’t care, I’ll buy and use it. There is nothing in me that wants something because some pile of pixles on a screen holds one.

      I think the Old Grey Bat staff are projecting. they are the ones with the psychoses. T

      • the silver screen made many items iconic.
        that may prompt investigation; it is not a reason to purchase.
        i didn’t get a mares leg (in the most affordable caliber) because of tv, but i doubt henry would have made it otherwise. guy at work wants to round out his .38/ .357 stable with one. blame him? something wrong with “looks cool and is fun?”

  9. That there is one honest comment bobbing in this sea if morally panicked doggerel—confiscation would be useless—is the only interesting element if this tired screed.

  10. We need a Federal Law that mandates criminals who commit gun related crimes, whether stealing firearms, or using firearms in committing a crime, are actually prosecuted for that crime rather than being plead down to a misdemeanor. Also minimum incarceration times for convicts rather than ankle monitors or release to home confinement. There has to be actual consequences for criminals to deter them!

    • Federal & State laws will never have the desired effect on crime.

      “If violent crime is to be curbed, it is only the intended victim who can do it. The felon does not fear the police, and he fears neither judge nor jury. Therefore what he must be taught to fear is his victim.”

      “The police cannot protect the citizen at this stage of our development, and they cannot even protect themselves in many cases. It is up to the private citizen to protect himself and his family, and this is not only acceptable, but mandatory.” Jeff Cooper

        • No. Wish I had tho. His USMC career and mine didn’t overlap unfortunately, but there were many other Marines who influenced me before and after I enlisted in ’63, including a couple uncles who had fought in WWII and Korea.

      • I met him once. SHOT Show. 1999. Atlanta I believe. He was at the Styer booth. They were introducing the Styer Scout. I was able to have a brief coversation with him and his daughter Lindy. It took that long for him to autograph all of his work I brought with me. (I had anticipated him being there). He had a heavy influence on me. I was reading Cooper on Handguns in G&A magazine in the early ’70s. I was maybe 14.

        • Cooper was my earliest influence, and the reason I had that big (heavy) stainless 1911 on my hip the one and only time I ever came close to that kind of confrontation. Though it was loaded with 200 gr CCI Lawman hollow points rather than the 230 gr FMJ he advocated at least at the time.

    • more or less close, but why ONLY for “crimes” involvong firearms?

      How about MURDER being prosecuted and punished as MURDER and not “assault” or ” something equally weak?

  11. lol
    Upside down and backwards.

    They can focus on advertising if they want to but it wont change much of anything. I see ads all the time for Chevrolet but the only Chevy I’ve ever owned was given to me. Commercials come on all the time for McDonalds but I never eat there. I’ve never had Folgers coffee as a result of ANY advertisement. I see Apple ads constantly but never bought a MAC as ever computer I’ve ever owned are ones I’ve built myself. These fools think they can remove advertising but completely miss the point. That’s not even to mention that Hollywood films do more than ANY commercial or magazine ad could ever dream of. NO ONE is buying AR15’s because of advertising. The craziness of the Democrat left is creating more of a market of them than anything else.

  12. Good luck walking anyone back from “you’re all racist”, “if you don’t get the jab you should be denied healthcare” “abort your unborn child to save money” “we don’t want gun owners in NY.”

    There’s no way we’re ever going back to agreeing to disagree assuming we ever were really there in the first place. Personally I believe we’ve always hated each other and it’s just the emboldening pseudo anonymity of social media that pulled back the mask. Witch trials never ended nor did they begin in Salem. Othering and scapegoating is as human as body odor.

    • Shire-man,

      …racist….you should be denied healthcare….abort babies anytime…

      And they call us, ‘extremists!!

      I am an extremist. I believe in unlimited free speech, absolutely no infringements on the 2A, and ‘quick trials’ for the treason of election fraud and government corruption.

      • “I believe in unlimited free speech“

        So you’re ok with someone posting flyers in your neighborhood with your photo identifying you as a violent pedophile?

        Hometown newspaper ads stating you are a convicted sex offender are no problem?

        Facebook posts showing your membership card for the North American Man-Boy Love Association, all good?

        Freedom!

        • Slander and libel aren’t “free speech”. I could write ‘Communists pedophiles like Miner49er should be put up against the wall” and that is fine because: A) It’s true (an affirmative defense) and B) Communists aren’t people.

        • Let me quote with the original poster stated again for you:

          “I believe in unlimited free speech“

          “Unlimited free speech”

          And if you think slander and libel should be prosecuted, then you believe that Donald Trump should be prosecuted for his false statements regarding the election of 2020, correct?

        • 1) legalize dueling

          2) require the publisher to verify your identity

          3) have at it, fallacy boy…

    • “There’s no way we’re ever going back to agreeing to disagree assuming we ever were really there in the first place.” We were never there Shire- man. They are liars it’s what they do.

    • Mega dittos. It’s way past time to stop pretending like we have to get along and tolerate each other’s mutual hatred just because we happen to be citizens of the same country that was forced into continued existence by the unappreciated slaughter of 700,000 Americans. Life is to short to share your country with leftists. End the experiment.

  13. One of the nuttiest editorials I’ve read in a long time! When the powers that be, eventually recognize where the holes in the fabric of our Great Society are, and actually do something to rectify them; they’ll begin to see the results they strive for. Firearms, like Marijuana have been portrayed to the masses as evil, of no use, . . .the real evil lies in the minds of those wanting to control the masses, for their personal gains.

  14. As soon as I read “common sense gun regulation,” it lost any credibility it may have had.
    How about this-registered Democraps have to carry insurance to reimburse the citizens for the damage caused by their reckless voting choices.

    • Well we don’t want “those” people to have firearms they wouldn’t be responsible. Yet another attempt to make it only a option for the wealthy/connected. Keep an eye on the NY/NJ/CA/ licensing court drama.

    • The NYT certainly supported the 1st Amendment when they employed Gatling guns during the Draft Riots of 1863.

  16. Mostly drivel. They get one thing right: legal gun owners are almost universally law abiding citizens who would never use their weapons to intimidate or harm victims.

    Extremists? Well, if they include CRIMINALS in the extremist category, then extremists are a real problem. Instead, they gloss over criminal activity, in an attempt to blame those deaths on right wing extremism. Never mind that a good portion of so-called extremist shootings are done by left wingers and/or politically neutral nuts with crazy problems. We don’t want to bring attention to a kwear shooting up a kwear bar, after all.

    Cult of the AR? Well, maybe, if you’re playing fast and loose with the definition of cult. Like maybe, “Anyone who has views different than my own has to be a cultist!”

    Yeah, go ahead and screw around with the 1st Amendment. Maybe the right leaning lawmakers can make it illegal to burn US flags again? And, maybe we can get religious laws like India, where bad mouthing my deity can get you imprisoned for hate speech and intolerance?

    These idiots seldom think things through. It’s not in their nature.

    • “Extremist” has become a hollow put-down through redefinition. The people calling us extremists are the same people who can’t define “woman”.

  17. Nothing new in this article. These statements still reflect the end game, perhaps with some vocabulary changes. The true beliefs, purposes and desires of the left are clearly illustrated. They are still saying, “we support the 2A BUT”!

  18. I believe that the recent revelations from Twitter confirms now more than ever we need “Common Sense” laws for the “media”. Removing safeguards from liable claims would be a good start.

    • that bitch mitch allowed chucksuck schemer and malignany paloosely to squeak the “journalism protection” bill into the defense bill. (it would have allowed msm to form cartels and negotiate with social media as to what gets shown). there was a substantial uproar and it was removed.
      it was that close.

    • “I believe that the recent revelations from Twitter confirms… “ the Trump Admin pressured Twitter to censor negative posts regarding Donald Trump.

      • Nope, the ‘Hunter Biden’ thing is laughable.

        Matt Taibbi stated he has evidence that the Trump administration pressured Twitter to censor specific posts.

        The actual President of the United States using his influence to silence Twitter is a violation of our civil rights, private citizen Joe Biden asking Twitter to keep his sons dick pictures off because they violate Twitter’s policy is not a crime.

        And Fox News is having difficulty because not all of their Talking Heads are willing to lie on Camera any longer.

        Fox’s Brian Kilmeade having his “Maybe this was all a big nothingburger” moment was just so precious. As far as Tucker goes, he said he had the laptop info years ago but “lost it in the mail”. This has been a big fat nothing for how many years now? The GOP conspiracies have about as much real content as their policies. Nothing.

        And the best part is that Fox News ignores Matt Taibbi’s reporting that the Trump Administration pressured Twitter to censor specific messages, an actual violation of the first amendment of the constitution by the United States government.

        “Taibbi goes on to write, “Requests from both Donald Trump’s White House and the Biden campaign were received and honored.” He does not provide examples of tweets the Trump team flagged to Twitter.”

        https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2022/12/03/elon-musk-and-matt-taibbi-release-twitter-docs-hunter-biden-tapes/10826408002/

        You know what you’ll never find on Hunter Biden’s laptop?

        Stolen classified TS/SCI documents.

        And yes, the MAGA seem to want to see Hunter Biden’s dick really bad. Hunter must have a really impressive dick if everybody on the right wants to see it.
        Maybe y’all should mention that in your next therapy session.

        https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CsnF3miAJIc

      • Yep and Twitter didn’t do what Trump wanted but they did everything the BIDEN CRIMINAL FAMILY asked for, with help from the ESTABLISHMENT inside the FBI/DOJ/DHS!!!!

      • Guys, please try to understand that MinorLiar has an incurable and highly debilitating mental illness – a sort of issue-specific cerebral aphasia. He is ONLY capable of recognizing ethical lapses or criminal behavior IF they are committed by Republicans or “right-wingers” (as defined by the mental midget, MinorLiar).

        Crimes that would rate impeachment or death, if committed by a Republican, are mere ‘differences of opinion’ when committed by a Dimocrat. Adam Schiff can lie UNDER OATH, repeatedly, and all is well. Trump sends a mean tweet, and he must be impeached and imprisoned.

        MinorLiar has a tiny, one-track mind “Dimocrats good; Republicans bad”.

        Just ignore the f***ing little lying c**t; it’s all he deserves.

  19. Got it. Anyone who owns an AR15 is a right wing extremist. Sounds like a reason to Red Flag them, or maybe get a little visit from an FBI SWAT team…because right wing domestic terrorist extremist.

    Attacking the First Amendment is SOP for the NYT. They’re completely down with censorship so long as it’s being done to conservatives, and they’re all in for limiting freedom of religion, so there’s that.

    The NYT is just being the NYT. Completely expected from the newspaper of record for the neo-Marxist progressive left.

    • Hmmmm Guess I’m OK now. I do not own an AR 15 (or 14 or 74) so that proves I am NOT an “extemist” according to these nitwits I won’t mention what I DO own, however.
      Loose lips sink ships.

  20. Talk about a word salad.

    The founders did not fear weapons ownership/possession by the populace, but they made a bold statement that the central government should fear an armed public.

    The Constitution, and subsequent BOR were never designed, nor thought of, as a Compact of Personal Comforts.

  21. “…should also pass far tougher regulations on the gun industry, particularly through restrictions on the marketing…”
    “…do more to regulate the arms industry’s marketing practices…”
    distinction? like a high school kid padding his essay out to the required minimum. why would a manufacturer want to make their product appealing to consumers?
    “The only hope the nation has for living in and around so many deadly weapons…”
    as if the last few hundred years has been such a catastrophe.

  22. Typical Leftist-Socialist responses to the Rights we enjoy. This is not about “safety”; it is about CONTROL!

  23. License Registration and Insurance please.
    ” But it’s a Constitutional RIGHT!”
    A what?,rights?, it’s a privilege the State gives you. License, registration, and insurance, please.

      • MinorLiar,

        It’s truly sad that your ‘understanding’ of Constitutional Law is so abjectly pathetic. In the first instance, all but the most puerile Leftist/fascists (like you) are well aware that the Constitution confers NOT A SINGLE right on anyone. Our rights, as clearly recognized by the Constitution, are inherent.

        The Constitution serves the (laudable, if only to avoid the need for regular defenestration of government employees and bureaucrats) purpose of PREVENTING THE GOVERNMENT FROM INFRINGING THOSE RIGHTS. But you’re far too stupid to comprehend that distinction, so discussing it with you would be like trying to explain the nuances of string theory to my dog.

        In the second instance, anyone even PASSINGLY familiar with the tension among “commerce clause” (and, by implication, the schizophrenic and absurd nature of “commerce clause” jurisprudence), “full faith and credit”, and “limited, specified powers” (which used to actually mean something) is well aware that, for literally far more years than the whole “driver’s license” nonsense was even a thing, NO permits were required to utilize public roads. The only even laughably supportable argument for restricting access to and use of PUBLIC roads is the argument that the users thereof should “pay their fair share” – all other arguments are semi-cerebral onanism (at least that part you should be familiar with).

        Don’t give up hope, MinorLiar, if you continue applying your PRODIGIOUS intellect to the issue, you may achieve the understanding of our civil and governmental system accomplished by most third grade “special ed” students. I bet your mommy’s SO proud of how her little boy has applied his use of her Internet connection and that laptop he stole!!!

  24. The truth of the matter is that the Politicians in the Democrat party in particular are the ones who have created most of the problems. Law abiding citizens owning guns which numbers well over 150 million in this Country are not the ones significantly involved in gun deaths, period. Given that there are around 56 thousand gun deaths a year in which almost 2/3 are suicides only an extremely small percentage of firearm deaths are caused by criminals and people who legally possess a firearm. Despite what the press tells you many perpetrators of crimes are stopped daily by law abiding citizens with a firearm for which no charges are filed. the statement that it takes a good guy with a gun to stop a bad guy with a gun happens frequently. When the leftist politicians change their policies regarding defundinging police, allowing the police to do their jobs, closing our borders to illegals, jailing people for serious crimes once again, and being tough on violent criminals you will see the violence and death rate from firearms drop dramatically. Blame the politicians not the guns or gun owners in general. Blame the Leftist policies now in play in this Country.

    • Have we met, busybeef??

      While I own a few, now, I can’t say I’ve ever been all that enamored of the poodleshooter. Haven’t acquired one, yet, but if the Ruger SFAR lives up to the hype, I may revisit that opinion, and may acquire one.

      That having been said, it’s certainly a USEFUL firearm, for a variety of purposes, just not one I’m thrilled about. It’s better than an AK-47 (although I prefer the 7.62 Russian short round to the pathetic 5.56 poodleshooter), but that’s a low bar. I wish the same attention had been paid to the FN FAL/G3 platform as was paid to the AR-15 platform.

      Not a ‘bad’ rifle; just not an exceptional one. IMNSHO.

    • The New York Slimes can’t tell a Shotgun round from a Rifle round, but we’re supposed to believe “they are Experts.”

      More like Ex- Spurts.

  28. Just for fun, I like to print out the cookbook procedures for making rudimentary plastic explosives and IEDs from the army field manuals “Improvised Munitions” and “Booby Traps”. Then distribute said documents around gaming arcades so young people can entertain and educate themselves. What could possibly go wrong? The knowledge isn’t illegal…

    • “Just for fun, I like to print out the cookbook procedures for making rudimentary plastic explosives and IEDs from the army field manuals “Improvised Munitions” and “Booby Traps”. Then distribute said documents around gaming arcades so young people can entertain and educate themselves. What could possibly go wrong?”

      Not much. The kids at arcades have had access to bomb making since there was an internet.

      As with firearms, knowledge is an inanimate object. It is what humans do with the tool that matters.

      We are cursed with the knowledge of good and evil.

  29. Maybe I’ve missed it but I’ve never read or saw an advertisement for ANY semi automatic rifle or pistol that proclaims how many more innocent victims can be shot with their product than a competitor or with a bolt action or single action only revolver. I guess I don’t read the same gun nut magazines as do the leftists. I’ve led a sheltered life.

  30. I do not nor know any who believe that common sense exists. It does not. Nice try gun grabber, at least you did not start out with “I am a hunter”…you people are incredible. i will give my 2A Rights but it will cost you. I want $100k in cash up front and then you can have the list of what I require. The $100k is non-refundable

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