Gunning for Change

It is fair to say that for 2nd Amendment Conservatives, gun control is the "third rail" that must not be broached by anyone seeking their support. However, it may be surprising to learn that gun owners and non-gun owners do support several things in common. According to Reuters, researchers at Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research in Baltimore, Maryland. have surveyed over 2100 people representing both groups and found they both supported  "universal background checks, greater accountability for licensed gun dealers, higher safety training standards for concealed-carry permit holders, improved reporting of records related to mental illness for background checks, gun prohibitions for those with temporary domestic violence restraining orders, and gun violence restraining orders."

According to HUB, the study showed: The policies with the highest overall public support and minimal support gaps by gun ownership status included:

• Universal background checks (supported by 85.3 percent of gun owners and 88.7 percent of non-gun owners)
• License suspension for gun dealers who cannot account for 20 or more guns in their inventory (supported by 82.1 percent of gun owners and 85.7 percent of non-gun owners)
• Higher safety training standards for concealed-carry permit holders (supported by 83 percent of gun owners and 85.3 percent of non-gun owners)
• Improved reporting of records related to mental illness for background checks (supported by 83.9 percent of gun owners and 83.5 percent of non-gun owners)
• Gun prohibitions for people subject to temporary domestic violence restraining orders (supported by 76.9 percent of gun owners and 82.3 percent of non-gun owners)
• Gun violence restraining orders, which are commonly referred to as extreme risk protection orders or Red Flag laws (supported by 74.6 percent of gun owners and 80.3 percent of non-gun owners)

Additionally: More than half of gun owners, however, still favor several of these policies to restrict or regulate guns. These policies include:

• Requiring that a person lock up guns in the home when not in use to prevent access by youth (supported by 58 percent of gun owners and 78.9 percent of non-gun owners)
• Allowing information about which particular gun dealers sell the most guns that are then used in crimes to be available to the police and public (supported by 62.9 percent of gun owners and 73.4 percent of non-gun owners)
• Requiring a person to obtain a license from local law enforcement before buying a gun (supported by 63.1 percent of gun owners and 81.3 percent of non-gun owners)
• Allowing cities to sue gun dealers when there is evidence that the dealer's practices allow criminals to obtain guns (supported by 66.7 percent of gun owners and 77.9 percent of non-gun owners)

In what should be seen as a good common-ground for legislation to be formulated, there is nary a peep on the national level though at the state level some states have made progress on these points of consensus. Iowa is not one of the states where this data has been considered and continues to move to lessen controls on gun ownership. The question of whether a tragedy will strike in a nation where over 39,000 people die of firearm injury each year, but when. Legislators should be put on notice that inaction, where there is a consensus, is negligence on their part.