# Young voters and gun laws... **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 23, 2018, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-voters-and-gun-laws/809395 "2018-02-23T05:17:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2018, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-voters-and-gun-laws/809395/102 "2018-03-04T09:19:21Z")
> [@Claude\_Remains](#): > > I’ve got a life that doesn’t revolve around this silly website. Oooh, yes sir, Mr. VIP. :rolleyes: Somehow you managed to find time to post in other threads after my original response. I know, it was so much effort… ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2018, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-voters-and-gun-laws/809395/103 "2018-03-04T12:38:04Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **Whack-a-Mole** : > > Not only have they been energized of late which will likely see a bump in turn out but as it happens old, conservative voters are dying and the new generation is staying liberal. I suspect that this is actually conservatives’ doing. The usual cycle is that liberals come up with new ideas, conservatives favor the old ideas, and between the two of them, they eventually hash out which of the new ideas are good ones, and those get adopted, and the bad new ideas get rejected. So now you’ve got a new set of ideas, some old and some new, that are overall better than the previous set, and that set becomes the “old ideas” for the next generation of conservatives, and the next generation of liberals comes up with yet more new ideas. So when people get more conservative as they age, it isn’t because their views are actually changing, it’s because what counts as “conservative” is evolving to match what their views are. But conservatives nowadays are skipping that last step. Conservatives in 2018 are championing the same things that they did in previous generations, and are never adapting to match what the young people are growing into. They’ve been able to get away with this, for a while, because of the Baby Boomer demographic, which has continued to dominate American discourse no matter what their age. But that won’t last forever, and as the Baby Boomers die off, conservativism must inevitably change. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2018, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-voters-and-gun-laws/809395/104 "2018-03-04T14:37:32Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I suspect that this is actually conservatives’ doing. The usual cycle is that liberals come up with new ideas, conservatives favor the old ideas, and between the two of them, they eventually hash out which of the new ideas are good ones, and those get adopted, and the bad new ideas get rejected. So now you’ve got a new set of ideas, some old and some new, that are overall better than the previous set, and that set becomes the “old ideas” for the next generation of conservatives, and the next generation of liberals comes up with yet more new ideas. So when people get more conservative as they age, it isn’t because their views are actually changing, it’s because what counts as “conservative” is evolving to match what their views are. I am hard pressed to see how the Flower Power generation still holds the same values they did in the 60s/70s of peace and love and sharing and that the new generation has come up with something else the Flower Power generation rejects. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2018, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-voters-and-gun-laws/809395/105 "2018-03-04T15:01:59Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Perhaps, but you’re going to have to be a bit more specific on the metrics of our bet. Might have been wise you didn’t take the bet: > [@](#): > > **Texans smash early voting record powered by Democratic surge** > > Texans in the 15 largest counties have smashed the record for early voting in a non-presidential year, thanks largely to a huge surge in Democratic participation. > > According to final figures posted Saturday by the Texas Secretary of State’s office, 885,574 Texas voted early in person or by mail over 11 days of early voting, which ended Friday. The primary is Tuesday. > > That figure is up from 592,153 early votes in the comparable period before the 2014 March primary in the last midterm elections — a nearly 50 percent increase. > > SOURCE: [https://www.statesman.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/texans-smash-early-voting-record-powered-democratic-surge/NMXgMt4JbHC2bWuQIesNoL/amp.html?\_\_twitter\_impression=true](https://www.statesman.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/texans-smash-early-voting-record-powered-democratic-surge/NMXgMt4JbHC2bWuQIesNoL/amp.html?__twitter_impression=true) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2018, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-voters-and-gun-laws/809395/106 "2018-03-04T16:55:04Z")
Must be those millions of fraudulent voters. Quick! Somebody (Republican) constitute a blue-ribbon commission! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2018, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-voters-and-gun-laws/809395/107 "2018-03-05T02:37:56Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I suspect that this is actually conservatives’ doing. The usual cycle is that liberals come up with new ideas, conservatives favor the old ideas, and between the two of them, they eventually hash out which of the new ideas are good ones, and those get adopted, and the bad new ideas get rejected. So now you’ve got a new set of ideas, some old and some new, that are overall better than the previous set, and that set becomes the “old ideas” for the next generation of conservatives, and the next generation of liberals comes up with yet more new ideas. So when people get more conservative as they age, it isn’t because their views are actually changing, it’s because what counts as “conservative” is evolving to match what their views are. > > But conservatives nowadays are skipping that last step. Conservatives in 2018 are championing the same things that they did in previous generations, and are never adapting to match what the young people are growing into. > > They’ve been able to get away with this, for a while, because of the Baby Boomer demographic, which has continued to dominate American discourse no matter what their age. But that won’t last forever, and as the Baby Boomers die off, conservativism must inevitably change. One of my professors in college explained that my views on various subjects would be more accurately described not as _conservative,_ but as _reactionary._ And that was decades ago! ---
**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:** [March 6, 2018, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-voters-and-gun-laws/809395/108 "2018-03-06T19:59:37Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > You really can’t take them for granted. They may vote D, if they vote, but that demographic is the least reliable voters. The idea is not that they will be voting D in the election that will swing things, but that they will be voting at all. True but guns are not what going to get them there. Historically speaking. > [@](#): > > Shall issue license? Or is there any qualification before you start handing out machine guns? Yes, shall issue. If you meet the federal requirements to own a firearm, you get a license. And you can buy a machine gun if you register it. I might be convinced to support different levels of licensing to account for different types of gun owners or expand the list of prohibited persons but I’m generally in favor of repealing the NFA and all state and local gun laws. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2018, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-voters-and-gun-laws/809395/109 "2018-03-06T20:15:39Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > True but guns are not what going to get them there. Historically speaking. Threats to their safety is what has gotten them, and their parents, there. Historically speaking. What types of things are you thinking of that have motivated the youth vote? > [@](#): > > Yes, shall issue. If you meet the federal requirements to own a firearm, you get a license. And you can buy a machine gun if you register it. I might be convinced to support different levels of licensing to account for different types of gun owners or expand the list of prohibited persons but I’m generally in favor of repealing the NFA and all state and local gun laws. So, you are basically saying no gun laws or regulations whatsoever, unless you are a felonious criminal or for some other reason specifically prohibited from owning a gun, there are no limits? That’s not really a negotiation, more of a demand that we abandon negotiations entirely, and just capitulate everything to your desires. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2018, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-voters-and-gun-laws/809395/110 "2018-03-06T20:18:47Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Might have been wise you didn’t take the bet: Yeah, I lost track of the post where it came from, but when I looked into it, it looked like 2014 was the lowest turnout in recent years (for young voters). Basically the bet amounted to “Do you think voters will set a new record-low turnout” and I don’t think that’s the case. I suspect it’ll be about average, which would best 2014, but perhaps even that will end up being a bit too pessimistic and it’ll actually exceed the average by a bit. Either way, it was a sucker’s bet. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-voters-and-gun-laws/809395/111 "2018-03-08T00:18:24Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Yeah, I lost track of the post where it came from, but when I looked into it, it looked like 2014 was the lowest turnout in recent years (for young voters). Basically the bet amounted to “Do you think voters will set a new record-low turnout” and I don’t think that’s the case. I suspect it’ll be about average, which would best 2014, but perhaps even that will end up being a bit too pessimistic and it’ll actually exceed the average by a bit. Either way, it was a sucker’s bet. It was a sucker’s bet but more to the point I think is that the current election is not looking to just blip up from a low but to sail far past that low. Conservatives in Texas seem to be taking the threat of a liberal surge seriously. > [@](#): > > By the early hours of Wednesday, Democratic vote totals neared 1 million, nearly doubling totals from 2014 and reaching a level not seen in a midterm primary for the party since 2002. > > Republican vote totals exceeded 1.4 million, a modest increase from 2014, nearing a midterm record for the Texas GOP as well. > > SOURCE: [Texas Primary Results: Democrats Surge, But Progressive Backlash Looms : NPR](https://www.npr.org/2018/03/06/591162259/with-rising-voter-turnout-democrats-hope-to-turn-parts-of-texas-blue) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-voters-and-gun-laws/809395.md?page=5)