Researchers Explaining Why Laws Don’t Change Illustrate Something Else

By Tom Knighton

We hear a lot from the anti-gun crowd about how wrong it is that the CDC is barred from doing gun research. That’s not actually true, mind you. They’re legally prohibited from conducting anti-gun research, an important distinction, but to anti-gunners minds, any research just has to be anti-gun, so they’re one in the same.

And, to be fair, that’s often the case.

Take a recent study from Tufts. In particular, an interview with the researchers.

To better understand the source of political paralysis on gun control, Brian Schaffner, the Newhouse Professor of Civic Studies at Tufts, along with University of Massachusetts doctoral student David Barney, took a close look at how mass shootings influence public sentiment toward gun control.

Their study, published recently in the British Journal of Political Science, showed that after each mass shooting, rather than moving toward consensus, public opinion became more polarized, with no net movement toward or away from stricter gun regulations. Democrats were more likely to support greater gun control, while Republicans were inclined to support fewer regulations.

With the shootings and political polarization locked in a repeating cycle, Tufts Now asked Schaffner, who has appointments in both the Department of Political Science and …Read the Rest

Source:: Bearing Arms