# The likely effect of mass shootings on the 2020 elections. **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 3, 2019, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-likely-effect-of-mass-shootings-on-the-2020-elections/839614 "2019-09-03T02:51:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2019, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-likely-effect-of-mass-shootings-on-the-2020-elections/839614/21 "2019-09-03T20:11:40Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > I’m seeing reports that Walmart is going to quit selling ammo for rifles. This could be big news? > > What do you guys think? That is not quite what [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/03/business/walmart-ends-handgun-ammo-sales/index.html) is saying: > [@](#): > > The company, America’s largest retailer, said it will stop selling handgun ammunition and “short-barrel rifle ammunition,” such as the .223 caliber and 5.56 caliber, that can also be used on assault-style weapons after selling all of its current inventory. Walmart (WMT) will also stop selling handguns in Alaska, the only state where it still sells handguns. And Walmart will request that customers no longer openly carry guns into its 4,700 US stores, or its Sam’s Club stores, in states that allow open carry. > > However, Walmart will continue to sell long barrel deer rifles and shotguns and much of the ammunition for those guns. Walmart will also continue to allow concealed carry by customers with permits in its stores. ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2019, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-likely-effect-of-mass-shootings-on-the-2020-elections/839614/22 "2019-09-03T20:12:55Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Neither side is listening to anything the other side says. > > Mass shootings have not triggered much by way of new proposals. Nor are they likely to - these are rare enough to be anomalies. More background checks? The Odessa shooter failed one already. Enforce the existing laws more strictly? The gun control side won’t take that for an answer. Banning bump stocks? That didn’t seem to help. > > Banning hand guns, or banning semi-automatic weapons, are not new policies. > > Regards, > Shodan You completely ignored my point. ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2019, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-likely-effect-of-mass-shootings-on-the-2020-elections/839614/23 "2019-09-03T21:00:55Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > I’m seeing reports that Walmart is going to quit selling ammo for rifles. This could be big news? > > What do you guys think? Not big news at all. Rifles account for only a tiny chunk of gun deaths. They are the scary, splashed all over the media deaths; there just aren’t many of them. Online purchases of ammo are also simple. It’s about as hard as ordering a DVD from Amazon (although IIRC Amazon doesn’t do ammo.) You can get ammo delivered right to your door in a couple days. Guns are harder to get legally. If you can get the gun, ammo is the easy bit. So Walmart is limiting the potential shooters who use a rifle, don’t already have some ammo on hand for the next range trip, and can’t buy ammo locally anyplace but Walmart. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2019, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-likely-effect-of-mass-shootings-on-the-2020-elections/839614/24 "2019-09-03T22:09:01Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > I would have \*hoped \*you knew better. As I said… ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2019, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-likely-effect-of-mass-shootings-on-the-2020-elections/839614/25 "2019-09-03T22:32:45Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > I can’t see how mass shootings could have any effect but to push the election left. One way in which they might not do so is that increased talk by politicians on the left about finding policy solutions to mass shootings will mobilize more pro-gun voters on the right to vote against those politicians than it will mobilize gun-control voters to vote for them. This is the story of gun control efforts in the US. The minority of voters who are opposed to (most) measures are _highly_ motivated. The majority that is in favor of them is not. Getting an issue in the forefront of the public’s mind _might_ result in the less-motivated voters to go vote… or it might not. It’s not obvious to me which effect wins there. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2019, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-likely-effect-of-mass-shootings-on-the-2020-elections/839614/26 "2019-09-03T22:37:09Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > As I said… Got anything to contribute? ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-likely-effect-of-mass-shootings-on-the-2020-elections/839614/27 "2019-09-04T02:23:51Z")
I think I did in post #2, above. The rest is obvious. ---
**Author:** ![Barack\_Obama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dc4da7/32.png) [@Barack\_Obama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barack_Obama)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-likely-effect-of-mass-shootings-on-the-2020-elections/839614/28 "2019-09-04T02:48:32Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > I would have \*hoped \*you knew better. > > As long as it can be made clear that the Republicans, led by McConnell, are obstructing progress on saving lives, it \*will \*move votes - and it won’t take many. It won’t matter. Here’s the issue, most people are not very informed, they get their information from a single source typically mainstream media on the television. The left, often has very nuanced policy proposals while the rights is more straight forward, this immediately causes right winged policies to look more attractive at first glance (to the low informed single source voters). Add these false narratives into the equation and of course you’re going to have hard liners on both sides. When a leftist says gun control, the right assumes they mean banning guns. In many cases some leftist do want to ban specific guns or make it harder to obtain certain weapons. So any conversation about gun control automatically gets conflated with outright banning firearms. We see this on the immigration topic as well. Trump touts about open borders then right wingers assume any leftist talk about immigration reform is automatically open borders. ---
**Author:** ![Barack\_Obama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dc4da7/32.png) [@Barack\_Obama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barack_Obama)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-likely-effect-of-mass-shootings-on-the-2020-elections/839614/29 "2019-09-04T02:57:47Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Neither side is listening to anything the other side says. > > Mass shootings have not triggered much by way of new proposals. Nor are they likely to - these are rare enough to be anomalies. More background checks? The Odessa shooter failed one already. Enforce the existing laws more strictly? The gun control side won’t take that for an answer. Banning bump stocks? That didn’t seem to help. > > Banning hand guns, or banning semi-automatic weapons, are not new policies. > > Regards, > Shodan I wouldn’t call mass shooting anomalies when we have an disproportionate amount of them occur in the US even when you scale population/shootings. It’s relatively rare to all the other forms of gun violence, but that doesn’t invalidate the correlation between mass shootings, and firearms per capita, increasing wealth inquality, poorer social programs, and increase accessibility of information. The reason why the centrists in the democratic party started really cracking down on the gun control proposals is because of these mass shootings. Bernie Sanders until 2013 wasn’t that hard on firearms until the mass shootings started to pick up pace. You also make this seem like the “gun control side” is unwilling to compromise… they’re willing to take ANY form of gun control including making our existing laws tougher, such as closing the boyfriend loophole for example. It really appears like you’re downplaying/ignoring why gun control has became as big of a debate as healthcare. Cops and black people have been getting murdered via firearms for a long time now, mass shootings or shooting up little jimmy’s school, everyone no matter who they are gets pissed off about that hence why we’re now talking about the topic. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-likely-effect-of-mass-shootings-on-the-2020-elections/839614.md?page=1)