On Guns, the State of the Union Was Silent
On Tuesday evening, President Trump delivered the longest State of the Union speech in American history. But while he covered a range of topics over an hour and 45 minutes, one topic he did not address was guns. Similar to the unified reaction of gun rights and gun safety advocates to the shooting of Alex Pretti by border control agents last month—and the administration’s response to it—both sides were perturbed and somewhat bewildered by the lack of attention to the issue.
Gun violence remains the number one cause of death for children and teens in the U.S. There are nearly 47,000 gun-related deaths in the U.S.—roughly 128 per day—every year. That’s more than car accidents, brain cancer, pneumonia, and other relatively common causes. Our surveys of gun owners consistently show that they are as concerned about gun violence as non-gun owners.
Our most recent study shows that 75% of gun owners, including 69% of registered Republicans, consider the issue of gun violence to be an “emergency” or “major problem.” Further, nearly 8 out of 10 gun owners, including 75% of registered Republicans, strongly or somewhat agree that gun violence is weakening the social fabric of American life by making people feel unsafe in public places.
Americans don’t just care about gun violence after high-profile mass shootings; it’s a daily concern for the majority of us, gun owners and non-gun owners alike. It’s time to start treating it as one.