On Oct. 11, former Obama senior advisor Dan Pfeiffer went to war with the 2nd Amendment in a column posted to Crooked Media, a media company he and several other former Obama staffers founded.
Pfeiffer claims 80 percent of Americans support a ban on assault weapons. Not surprisingly, Pfeiffer did not cite a reference or any other data to support such a claim in his column.
Well, the latest Gallup poll released on Oct. 16 paints a different picture. The survey concludes that 48% of Americans support such a ban, up 12% from 2016.
Of course, this higher support is just 15 days after the horrific Las Vegas shooting. The poll was conducted between Oct. 5-11, while Pfeiffer’s column ran on Oct. 11. It is unclear whether Pfeiffer has any evidence to support his claim, other than chatting with his friends at Manhattan cocktail parties.
Regardless, Pfeiffer is adding to the noise surrounding the issue of gun ownership without distinguishing between criminals and those who are responsible, respectful gun owners. As for Gallup, the media company noted tragic events typically lead to a rise in gun control feelings.
“Public opinion typically shifts in the aftermath of a traumatic national event such as a mass shooting,” Gallup reported. “Shortly after the mass shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, in December 2012, support for stricter gun laws jumped to 58%. Sentiments in favor of stricter laws fell thereafter, only to rise to 55% in October 2015 after nine people were killed and nine were injured at a community college in Roseburg, Oregon.”
Perhaps Pfeiffer was referencing only Democrats, even so his claims appear dubious at best. Despite popular belief, there are millions of gun owners who are Democrats and a growing population of leftists who are staunchly against gun control, according to recent a Vice News report.
Another claim by Pfeffier states, “Why can’t we win a debate when the facts, morality, and public opinion are on our side?”
Perhaps it’s because he’s a politician spinning facts, morality and public opinion to fit his opinion instead of forming his opinion based on facts, morality and public opinion.
But Pfeiffer doubles down (well, more like taking it to the 10th power, but I digress) in his diatribe on the 2nd Amendment.
“The Second Amendment is in many ways an anachronism, framed before the age of drones and cruise missiles, when a well-armed civilian militia have actually been capable of turning back a foreign invasion. Times change. This is not Red Dawn. You are not Patrick Swayze. Chill out.”
Guess he never heard of the 2010 Arab Spring, where citizens of several North African and Middle East countries removed despotic leaders despite being outgunned. Those rebels didn’t have tanks or missiles (unless it came from a foreign government in a covert op) in their possession. What they did have was guns, social media and the will to reform their governments.
Regardless of the Arab Spring, Pfeiffer has this issue exactly wrong. The Founders put the 2nd Amendment at the top of the list, only behind freedom of speech, because they knew even then that, as Thomas Jefferson reminds us even today, “The beauty of the second amendment is that it will not be needed until they try to take it away.” Dan Pfeiffer, and his fellow-travelers, are “they.” Don’t ever forget it.
But, at least he admitted to being a political hack. So, there was at least one rational thought.