Despite the anti-gun rhetoric from their leaders, it appears a large chunk of Democratic voters value their right to keep and bear arms.
The Wall Street Journal revealed on Thursday that gun ownership among Democrats is surging, and gun groups composed of liberals and progressives are skyrocketing.
According to the paper, the reasons behind the rise center around Democrat concerns over violent crime and basically nonexistent ‘right-wing extremists.’ And at least two surveys provide proof this is a real phenomenon.
The Journal cited a 2023 survey by the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions in Baltimore which showed that over half of the Democrats who bought guns since 2020 were first-time buyers. In contrast, less than one-quarter were Republicans.
A 2022 survey by NORC at the University of Chicago discovered that 29% of Democrat or Democrat-leaning individuals stated they were gun owners, up seven percentage points from 2020.
Jennifer Hubbert, an anthropology professor at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon, explained to the Journal that her research found that the increase was particularly significant amongst gay and transgender voters and Jewish people.
According to Hubbert, the homosexual community is purchasing firearms because they are concerned about hate crimes, while the Jews are worried about attacks from pro-Hamas agitators.
“It’s a group of people who five years ago would never have considered buying a gun,” Hubbert said.
The Journal also reports that the rise in gun ownership also extends to Black voters, who are worried about both crime and bad police officers. Considering that so many major American cities have become hellholes under Democratic leadership, perhaps this should not be too shocking.
The paper also spoke with several left-wing individuals and asked them why they purchased a firearm. The responses are noteworthy.
43-year-old Michael Ciemnoczolowski, a resident of Iowa City, Iowa, and a lifelong gun ‘control’ activist, revealed to the Journal he bought a gun for the first time in his life this past summer. He said he needed to pay $600 for a Springfield 1911 handgun.
Ciemnoczolowski said he wanted to ensure his “personal safety” due to worries over street crime and domestic politics that have “grown increasingly acrimonious.” Perhaps someone should remind him that his own leaders are responsible for these cruises.
Randy Miyan, another leftist, told the Journal that he founded a group called Liberal Gun Owners for people who don’t feel comfortable joining the National Rifle Association or using conservative pro-gun message boards. The group has approximately 5,000 members.
“We have to have harbors and havens,” Miyan explained.
54-year-old Tom Nguyen, a Los Angeles resident, founded a pro-gun group called L.A. Progressive Shooters as a Facebook group in 2020. He explained he did so because he was frustrated with the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 election, and as a response to the social unrest including the George Floyd riots.
Nguyen, who also works as a firearms instructor, saw a market for leftists who were fond of guns but did not want to be associated with a “male-dominated” gun world.
“People were hungering for a space that was not this hyper-aggressive, male-dominated, toxic gun world,” he told the Journal.
One of his students, 32-year-old Alejandra Mendez, decided to take lessons from Nguyen in 2019 after moving to a new place because she was worried about homophobic violence and crime in general.
The healthcare worker, who is married to a female, currently owns three handguns and an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle. The latter has become a boogeyman with ardent gun control activists.
Mendez told the Journal that it is entirely hypocritical for progressives to support other constitutional rights to free speech but not the 2nd Amendment.
“I don’t understand that rhetoric of ‘protect my right’ and not protect the rights of other people,” she said.
