Blue v. Red states in opinion wars over gun sales

Big city mayors in total opposition

A plural majority of citizens surveyed in 41 congressional districts and 21 mostly blue states advocate background checks for all gun sales, new surveys show.

A project of Mayors Against Illegal Guns conducted by Douglas E.Schoen, LLC, 89 percent of those surveyed in key congressional districts prefer background checks in so-called “loophole” firearms sales conducted at gun shows in transactions between individuals, and in private sales between parties who are not federally licensed firearms dealers. In state-wide polls, 86 percent indicated an identical sentiment.(click here)

The effort comes amid an effort to educate the public that gun violence has reached epidemic levels, with murder-suicide by attacks with firearms in cases of mass violence occupying a prominent place in the figures, according to studies printed in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Their chief conclusion is that “...there are no standardized operational definitions, validated taxonomic systems, or national surveillance networks for these events, all of which are needed to develop prevention stategies...”

“Murder-suicide occurs with an annual incidence of 0.2 to 0.3 per 100000 person-years and accounts for approximately 1000 to 1500 deaths yearly in the United States. The annual incidence of these events is relatively constant across industrialized nations and has not significantly changed over several decades. The principal perpetrators are young males with intense sexual jealousy, depressed mothers, or despairing elderly men with ailing spouses. The principal victims are female sexual partners or consanguineous relatives, usually young children. Clinical depression, specific motivations such as male sexual proprietariness or maternal salvation fantasies, and a history of previous suicide attempts are important in explaining underlying psychopathological mechanisms.

“Conclusions. Murder-suicide occupies a distinct epidemiological domain that overlaps with suicide, domestic homicide, and mass murder. These events may be categorized into one of only several phenomenologic typologies that share similar demographics, motivations, and circumstances. Despite the disruption of families and communities caused by murder-suicide, there are no standardized operational definitions, validated taxonomic systems, or national surveillance networks for these events, all of which are needed to develop prevention strategies.(JAMA.1992;267:3179-3183)”

Previous epidemiological studies have concluded that perpetrators of murderous violence followed by suicide place little or no value on their own lives, either as a consequence of their actions, or by predisposition.

The mayoral coalition represents a membership made up of the largest cities in the nation. They have released two new YouTube videos designed to sway public opinion and steer the vote in the U.S. Senate to conform more to the view that increased gun controls – especially for those with mental difficulties – is desirable when it comes to sales and ownership of assault rifles and pistols with high capacity magazines.

It is a view held mainly by Democratic Party public officials rather than Republican, which makes up most of the membership of the U.S. House of Representatives.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is taking an activist stance against the gun lobby and manufacturers he claims use their influence to suppress crime information that would make it easier to research reasons for the epidemic in gun violence. He calls his study “Access Denied.”

The Mayoral coalition has released numerous studies of illegal straw purchases of guns, interstate and international gun trafficking, and the methods criminals use to obtain firearms. They are available on-line.(click here)