From the Editor

This just in from Associated Press (AP):

“Women, Men Differ on Gun Control.”

The Sept. 7 story, by-lined by Will Lester, reports the results of an AP-commissioned poll that found women were more inclined to favor stricter gun laws than men.

I await the results of further Associated Press polling:

“Women, Men Differ on Three Stooges”

“Women, Men Differ on What ‘Is’ Is”

“Women, Men Differ on Cheese Curls”

From a young age, we are taught not to generalize about “people.” Then, as soon as we reach a demographically significant age, we are polled and questioned so that everyone from the makers of public policy to the makers of soft drinks, will have a “general” sense of what we want.

While you can be “generally” in favor of Brand X Cola, there are times when you will guzzle down a can of Brand Y, because it’s handy and you’re thirsty.

What the AP poll in question (taken in late August of 1,026 people) says, is that if you get 1,026 people to answer a specific, multiple choice question, you will be able to divide your results by 1,026 and come up with percentages. Those percentages can be matched to demographics (in this case sex, race and political party affiliation) and those percentages will tell you—generally—how women, men, blacks, whites, Republicans and Democrats feel about the answers you provided them with. Note, I said the “answers” and not the “question,” because most of these polls follow a formula, and if you can’t answer “yes” to one of their specifics, you get put down as “undecided” or, worse, “don’t care,” when in fact, you probably do have a decided opinion, just not one that fits neatly into a prescribed category.

So, according to AP’s poll, women favor “stricter gun laws” as a method of curbing violence, but men prefer “better enforcement” of existing laws.

But blacks (unspecified as to gender in the report of the poll) overwhelming favor “tougher gun controls” (83% to 52% of white respondents), and Democrats support more restrictions than Republicans (71%-43%).

Perhaps in the 1,026 people AP polled there wasn’t a black woman registered as a Democrat who owned a gun, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t black women Democrats that think “tougher enforcement” is a better solution to violence than “stricter gun controls.”

The problem is not in the numbers themselves, which I am prepared to—generally—believe. The problem is that there are a lot more people out there than 1,026, and they probably have more than two solutions to the problem of “violence.”

The tyranny of polling and its statistical output is not just that it skews “questions” into prepackaged “answers,” but that it leaves the impression that these are the only answers.

Lester’s report, for anyone who cared to read beyond the headline, also showed something else: People’s opinion on even as amorphous a “question” as “gun control” differed with, almost literally, the time of day.

Polling done immediately after the Columbine High School shooting showed 63% of adults favored tougher gun laws. Two weeks prior—before Columbine—55% of adults favored tougher gun laws. And, if you believe the AP polling, three months later, after Columbine, after a headlines and cover stories and punditry and June’s Congressional debate on the subject—56% of adults favored “stricter gun laws.”

In other words, but in words which AP’s Lester chose not to use, after the most shocking criminal misuse of firearms in this country in a long time, and after heated, emotional and copious debate, the shift in numbers amounts to one percent (1%).

“Public opinion,” writes Lester, “on this question is fluid.”

It seems to me, again, quite generally, that public opinion being “fluid” on most questions is probably a good thing, healthy for the Republic, and healthier still for everyday living.

I would have much rather have seen the headline “Gun Control Views ‘Fluid’” than “Women, Men Differ on Gun Control,” because it is more accurate.

When we start chopping up the polling pie into segments of “women and “men” not only do the answers change, but so do the questions. If “Women” and “Men” differ, what’s to be the resolution?

When The House of Representatives was debating the issue this summer, with a particular emphasis on gun shows, I was repeatedly frustrated by commentators that said, “This (gun rights) is a losing issue for the Republicans, because women favor gun control.”

We live in a sound bite age, I suppose, but that doesn’t make it any easier to swallow such comments. The champion of the gunowners during the debate was a Democrat, Michigan’s John Dingell. And, of course, I know at least one woman pretty well who doesn’t favor “gun control.”

Earlier this month I went to California to be on the Leeza show, for a program, that as we go to press, hasn’t aired yet. The subject was women and guns and the entire audience was women. Each audience member was given a toy gun and at one point in the proceedings were asked to “vote” by putting the gun in one bin if they would never use one and another bin if they would.

I tried to change the question, by asking that the question be restated, “Could you use a gun to defend a loved one?” but was overruled.

The results, which weren’t announced at the taping, looked to me to slightly favor “never use,” but not by a wide margin.

It didn’t particularly surprise me that that’s how it worked out. But I am convinced the results would have been measurably different had my question been asked.

It becomes pretty clear that gunowners with a stake in both the questions and the answers in the “gun debate” need to be ever vigilant.

You never know—you might get lucky and be polled by Associated Press. But it’s more likely that you’ll be “polled” by a friend or a co-worker.

That’s the opportunity to fall not into the “undecided” or “don’t know” category and provide answers to questions that are meaningful not just to you, but to your inquisitor.

When an anti-gun friend began ranting via email about “gun shows” this summer, I offered to take her to one, knowing full well that her reaction was most likely to be utter boredom rather than shock. When asked by acquaintances about whether I am in favor of “trigger locks,” I usually reply, “Sure.” But only because I know they will listen to my next couple of sentences: “Sure. For some people. But not mandatory laws. They don’t work on loaded guns, you know, and why would you want to keep a gun for protection that you couldn’t access quickly?”

I’ve never had to answer the “assault weapons” question because I usually ask so many questions in return (“What do you mean by ‘assault weapons’? Did you know machine guns have been strictly regulated since 1934? Did you know there’s never been a case of a legally owned machine gun being criminally misused?” etc.)

At minimum, when someone calls your attention to “Women, Men Differ on Gun Control” you need to be ready with more than just a snarled “Oh, yeah?”

The opportunity to change the poll numbers is only in the randomness of being selected. But the opportunity to change minds is available to us all.