# It is in Hillary's interests to pound the message, "I don't want your gun!" **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [August 11, 2016, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-in-hillarys-interests-to-pound-the-message-i-dont-want-your-gun/762416 "2016-08-11T05:46:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2016, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-in-hillarys-interests-to-pound-the-message-i-dont-want-your-gun/762416/101 "2016-08-13T20:21:52Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Can we have a psych exam before every child is conceived? Can we have a psych exam before you get a driver license? No, and similarly we don’t perform a psych exam before you purchase a gun. So its pretty silly to say that the slippery slope argument is an excuse to let mental defectives run around with an automatic weapon. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2016, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-in-hillarys-interests-to-pound-the-message-i-dont-want-your-gun/762416/102 "2016-08-13T20:23:37Z")
If I were Hillary, I would make sure that someone “leaked” a picture of my duck hunting or maybe a clip of her learning pistol safety at a police firing range somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2016, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-in-hillarys-interests-to-pound-the-message-i-dont-want-your-gun/762416/103 "2016-08-14T02:57:05Z")
I’m just having a hard time picturing large-scale gun confiscation here in the US. Every other household would be "another “Waco”. Alcohol prohibition was one of the most intrusive laws in our history and it was widely regarded as a disastrous failure and a classic example of government overreach. And yet enforcing it didn’t require anything to be confiscated from people’s homes. For some politicians to contend that the 2nd Amendment might not protect the individual right to own guns is “purely academic” and still leaves a huge gap with the realities of trying to take them all away. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2016, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-in-hillarys-interests-to-pound-the-message-i-dont-want-your-gun/762416/104 "2016-08-14T05:03:11Z")
> [@sqweels](#): > > I’m just having a hard time picturing large-scale gun confiscation here in the US. Every other household would be "another “Waco”. Even though 100% confiscation is largely off the table, that doesn’t mean there are lots of other invasive shitty things that can be done. When you have places that pass laws requiring live fire training then ban anywhere to get live fire training, it’s not confiscation but it’s still an infringement. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2016, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-in-hillarys-interests-to-pound-the-message-i-dont-want-your-gun/762416/105 "2016-08-14T05:20:29Z")
Gun confiscation isn’t really realistic, but also isn’t totally necessary to implement a gun ban. Cities have banned guns without confiscating them. Just don’t get caught with them. ---
**Author:** ![Lok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e8c25b/32.png) [@Lok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lok)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2016, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-in-hillarys-interests-to-pound-the-message-i-dont-want-your-gun/762416/106 "2016-08-14T09:16:12Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > When you have places that pass laws requiring live fire training then ban anywhere to get live fire training, it’s not confiscation but it’s still an infringement. I’ve never heard of this, although I could see someplace trying it. Got any locations? ---
**Author:** ![DonLogan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@DonLogan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DonLogan)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2016, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-in-hillarys-interests-to-pound-the-message-i-dont-want-your-gun/762416/107 "2016-08-14T12:06:51Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > If I were Hillary, I would make sure that someone “leaked” a picture of my duck hunting or maybe a clip of her learning pistol safety at a police firing range somewhere. I can guarantee you we are going to be spared that. ---
**Author:** ![DonLogan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@DonLogan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DonLogan)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2016, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-in-hillarys-interests-to-pound-the-message-i-dont-want-your-gun/762416/108 "2016-08-14T12:09:34Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > Even though 100% confiscation is largely off the table, that doesn’t mean there are lots of other invasive shitty things that can be done. When you have places that pass laws requiring live fire training then ban anywhere to get live fire training, it’s not confiscation but it’s still an infringement. Repubs tried that with abortion. It got thrown out in court. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2016, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-in-hillarys-interests-to-pound-the-message-i-dont-want-your-gun/762416/109 "2016-08-14T16:46:43Z")
The recent polls are all showing Americans in favor of tighter gun control, especially among younger people, and ownership has dropped substantially in recent years. It would hardly help Clinton to pander to a fearful, shrinking minority (that largely fails to recognize that they’ve become one) instead of doing what she’s been doing. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2016, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-in-hillarys-interests-to-pound-the-message-i-dont-want-your-gun/762416/110 "2016-08-14T21:25:44Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > And another one is Trump. In fact IIRC Trump came out in favor of an assault weapons ban after Sandy hook and Clinton went into Radio silence and her husband wrote an op ed asking the Democrats to simmer down and not overplay their hand on gun control or risk losing elections and abandoning the rest of the Democratic agenda. The Clintons learned their lesson in 1994. You say this, but it is weakened by the fact that Clinton campaigned heavily on gun control. You claim it was to get to the left of Bernie, but the only way that is important is if you think she’s not being genuine. Both possibilities are bad. But really, in a thread about Clinton, is it necessary to compare to Trump as a way to prop her up? The best argument Clinton has going for her is that she’s not Trump. A ringing endorsement. > [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > Have you heard of the tax code, bankruptcy reform? Earmarks are small fucking potatoes and thy are better than crippling gridlock. The close we get to crippling gridlock which renders the federal government ineffective the better. > [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > If I were Hillary, I would make sure that someone “leaked” a picture of my duck hunting or maybe a clip of her learning pistol safety at a police firing range somewhere. You say this, and you’ve said it multiple times, but it’s fantasy. For one, I doubt it would happen because she has campaigned so hard for gun control. And for two, it would feed into the existing and accurate perception that she is a panderer. And for three, no one that she would be trying to convince would believe her anyways and would open her up to even more mockery. > [@Lok](#): > > I’ve never heard of this, although I could see someplace trying it. Got any locations? [City of Chicago.](https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=17044109654189761463&hl=en&as_sdt=6&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr) > [@](#): > > The plaintiffs here challenge the City Council’s treatment of firing ranges. The Ordinance mandates one hour of range training as a prerequisite to lawful gun ownership, see CHI. MUN. CODE § 8–20–120, yet at the same time prohibits all firing ranges in the city, see id. § 8–20–080. The plaintiffs contend that the Second Amendment protects the right to maintain proficiency in firearm use—including the right to practice marksmanship at a range—and the City’s total ban on firing ranges is unconstitutional. > [@DonLogan](#): > > Repubs tried that with abortion. It got thrown out in court. Yes, after dedicated and constant vigilance in defeating these types of laws. Taking things to court takes time, resources, and is not a sure thing. The courts are towards the end of the spectrum of remedies available to cure constitutional infringements. Cases like Heller took many years. While it was decided in 2008, it started in 2003. I’d rather head off expensive litigation that takes years by heading off bad legislation from the get go. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2016, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-in-hillarys-interests-to-pound-the-message-i-dont-want-your-gun/762416/111 "2016-08-14T21:54:24Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > The close we get to crippling gridlock which renders the federal government ineffective the better. And people wonder why I have taken to referring to the GOP as the Enemies of the American Government party. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-in-hillarys-interests-to-pound-the-message-i-dont-want-your-gun/762416/112 "2016-08-15T14:01:29Z")
Confirmation bias. The more time she spends telling gun nuts that she doesn’t want to take their guns, the more they believe she does. She gains nothing talking about the issue and loses the time she’s spent doing so which could be better spent talking about things that could actually sway voters. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-in-hillarys-interests-to-pound-the-message-i-dont-want-your-gun/762416/113 "2016-08-15T14:32:11Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > Still, if Hillary has an eye towards strategy in this race, she is gonna repeat the message that she is going to leave the 2nd Amendment intact and that she does not want your gun like it is a Muslim ban or a wall against Mexico. The problem is, if you have an “assault weapon,” she probably _does_ want your gun, and the NRA’s policy in the past is quite clear on this: if you ban one gun, it’s just the first step to banning them all. I am under the impression that this won’t change as long as other groups believe that the statement is just as true if you replace “gun” with “abortion.” ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-in-hillarys-interests-to-pound-the-message-i-dont-want-your-gun/762416/114 "2016-08-15T18:12:41Z")
> [@DonLogan](#): > > I can guarantee you we are going to be spared that. Really? How can you do that? I think Hillary would do pretty much anything up to and including doing boilermakers in a dive bar to prove she is just a regular ol’ gal. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-in-hillarys-interests-to-pound-the-message-i-dont-want-your-gun/762416/115 "2016-08-15T18:21:02Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > The recent polls are all showing Americans in favor of tighter gun control, especially among younger people, That doesn’t really seem to be true. [http://www.people-press.org/2015/08/13/gun-rights-vs-gun-control/#age](http://www.people-press.org/2015/08/13/gun-rights-vs-gun-control/#age) Unless you are talking about universal background checks in which case EVERYONE seems to be in favor of more gun control. Pro-gun control sentiment seems highest among minority women of child rearing age. > [@](#): > > and ownership has dropped substantially in recent years. cite? Unless you are talking about a decades long trend of lower gun ownership as recent years, you are wrong. Gun ownership has seen a recent spike in the last few years. Thanks Obama. > [@](#): > > It would hardly help Clinton to pander to a fearful, shrinking minority (that largely fails to recognize that they’ve become one) instead of doing what she’s been doing. What has she been doing other than trying really hard to ignore the question? ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-in-hillarys-interests-to-pound-the-message-i-dont-want-your-gun/762416/116 "2016-08-15T18:27:59Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > You say this, but it is weakened by the fact that Clinton campaigned heavily on gun control. You claim it was to get to the left of Bernie, but the only way that is important is if you think she’s not being genuine. Both possibilities are bad. A politician not being genuine is hardly news. Hillary Clinton not being genuine is one of the reasons why someone like Donald Trump is still viable enough to make us all nervous. > [@](#): > > But really, in a thread about Clinton, is it necessary to compare to Trump as a way to prop her up? The best argument Clinton has going for her is that she’s not Trump. A ringing endorsement. This election is largely a multiple choice question. Neither candidate is good for you and i would submit that you should be pretty damn close to indifferent between them. In fact I can make a pretty good argument that the Clinton experience with losing congress (in part over the assault weapons ban) will make her much less likely to do something that antagonizes gun owners than Trump who is capable of anything… or nothing. > [@](#): > > The close we get to crippling gridlock which renders the federal government ineffective the better. You sound a bit anarchist. > [@](#): > > You say this, and you’ve said it multiple times, but it’s fantasy. For one, I doubt it would happen because she has campaigned so hard for gun control. And for two, it would feed into the existing and accurate perception that she is a panderer. And for three, no one that she would be trying to convince would believe her anyways and would open her up to even more mockery. I can’t think of many instances after Bernie became a non-issue when Hillary campaigned hard for gun control. ---
**Author:** ![Corry\_El](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@Corry\_El](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corry_El)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-in-hillarys-interests-to-pound-the-message-i-dont-want-your-gun/762416/117 "2016-08-15T18:31:35Z")
Lots of posts from the generally anti-gun/gun-skeptic side undermine others which claim it’s all in the imagination of gun owners their rights (as they see them) would ever be infringed. It’s a typical paradox in the left sphere of the internet (which this forum is part of generally, not exclusively) I’ve noticed. Really onerous federal restrictions on guns would never happen/gun rights people are a small, shrinking fearful minority. It doesn’t really compute. However on the actual more general point, Clinton has clearly calculated that her appeal to the non-left will not include much if any reversal of her recent sharp move to the left under pressure from the Sanders challenge, not on policy specifics that are really left/right. This calculation is IMO probably correct given the softness of her support on the Sanders/Warren left, the credibility issue with everyone of another sudden move (she’s not among the most trusted public figures in history to begin with 🙂 ), and the fact that Trump is allowing her to score so many points (or so many own goals he’s scoring) on the issue of basic personal fitness for the office. ---
**Author:** ![DonLogan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@DonLogan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DonLogan)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-in-hillarys-interests-to-pound-the-message-i-dont-want-your-gun/762416/118 "2016-08-15T23:20:18Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > Really? How can you do that? I think Hillary would do pretty much anything up to and including doing boilermakers in a dive bar to prove she is just a regular ol’ gal. Are you familiar with Dukakis in a tank? ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-in-hillarys-interests-to-pound-the-message-i-dont-want-your-gun/762416/119 "2016-08-15T23:23:41Z")
If you define “gun ownership” in terms of the amount of people who own guns, as opposed to the number of guns, I don’t think it has increased. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-in-hillarys-interests-to-pound-the-message-i-dont-want-your-gun/762416/120 "2016-08-16T00:38:28Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > The problem is, if you have an “assault weapon,” she probably _does_ want your gun, and the NRA’s policy in the past is quite clear on this: if you ban one gun, it’s just the first step to banning them all. I am under the impression that this won’t change as long as other groups believe that the statement is just as true if you replace “gun” with “abortion.” Well, even if she were to re-instate an assault rifle ban, that would apply to sales and not amount to a confiscation program, so it would still be the case that “she does not want your gun.” I do understand that the NRA is on a hair trigger about this kind of thing though. For me, I just don’t see how gun laws solve the problem of gun violence. Ban assault rifles? Most people get killed with handguns. Ban those? Yah, good luck. Australian-style confiscation? Sure, if it could be implemented it would work, but I don’t believe it is a realistic option in this country. I think the solution to gun violence is to improve the lives of people such that they don’t want to kill anyone anymore, not to take away people’s guns. If you want to talk about analogous issues, for me it is not abortion but Social Security and Medicare. I believe every GOP politician wants to get rid of those for the sake of tax breaks for the wealthy. OTOH, if Republicans started campaigning on a platform of preserving those programs, coupled with more sensible budget proposals that would not lead to ever-ballooning deficits including increasing revenue to match expenditures, I would remain suspicious but could be potentially persuaded. There must be gun enthusiasts out there who are similar to me in this. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-in-hillarys-interests-to-pound-the-message-i-dont-want-your-gun/762416.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-in-hillarys-interests-to-pound-the-message-i-dont-want-your-gun/762416.md?page=7)