Florida Democrats are still feeling punch drunk from trying to defend and alert the public to the culture war launched by Republicans during the 2022 Legislative Session. And while they are not known for messaging savvy, Democrats were able to shine national (global) attention on what was euphemistically labeled the ‘Parental Rights in Education’ bill.
While the debate continues over what the legislation honestly would/will do, three simple words led to a messaging coup d’état with GOP legislators still feeling whiplash — Don’t Say Gay!
Equality Florida has been given credit for this messaging masterpiece, with CATECOMM’s Kevin Cate making it a household name through a series of Equality Florida ads.
Why stop there?
America was hit with the latest in an endless string of mass killings in recent weeks: 19 precious children and two brave teachers in Texas; 10 innocent African Americans brutalized by a racist monster in Buffalo.
It’s gotten so bad that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has indicated he will allow the Senate to debate gun control legitimately.
But that is what the National Rifle Association (NRA) and what other pro-gun advocates want the debate to be over — “gun” control.
But these mass killings are not being perpetrated with pistols and hunting rifles. MSNBC talk host and former Pensacola Congressman Joe Scarborough read down the last 20 mass killings on Thursday; all were carried out with AR-15s. We need to control that, but those are not guns – they are weapons of war.
Why are we still debating gun control and not discussing combat weapon control or any term that opens itself up to less scrutiny? Let’s reframe the debate so we can eliminate the legitimate arguments that people who want to be able to purchase rifles for hunting or pistols to protect their homes from intruders should not have their Second Amendment rights violated.
If you need an AR-15 to hunt deer, you should probably take up golf. You probably should move if you need an AR-15 to protect your home front.
Americans overwhelmingly support reasonable standards such as background checks and eliminating the gun show loophole. Every poll conducted in the past 20 years shows that.
But if we allow the NRA and shameless politicians like Sen. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz to continually frame the debate as being over simple Second Amendment rights, we will lose again.
Don’t say, “gun control.” I will leave it up to the consultants and public relations wizzes to come up with the solution, but we know that “gun control” isn’t going to get us anywhere.
Words matter. We’ve learned that in Florida.
“Freedom Ain’t Free” by Mike Winkelmann, May 25th, 2022.
One Response
It sounds like what Bob intends to convey to the reader is that he is more concerned with the perception of the message rather than the content of the discussion. Spin/Narrative control is the name of the game here, words matter more than the substance of the conversation. AR15s are not weapons of war, that’s a categorically false statement. No war fighters or service members are going into a war with an AR15. Gun Control is exactly that, gun control, its not combat weapon control. Most of the gun control debate is qualitatively applicable to all types of guns, including handguns. The most recent gun control proposals seek to ban most common handguns via a magazine capacity limit that would effectively ban common handguns. Lets keep the terminology accurate and not try to mislead uninformed citizens with false schemed up names to advocate a position. Guns don’t murder people, I’ve never seen a gun charged with a crime. Guns are a tool deranged psychopaths’ use to murder people, the same way a vehicle is the weapon of choice for drunk drivers, do we need vehicle control? sobriety keys on all vehicles mandatory, what about speed controls? nobody needs a car that can exceed 80mph right? I take it you have never ground hunted hogs before. Oh and I am still shocked you stated the position that a individual should move rather than own an AR15 for home protection, we should all be able to live anywhere we legally please and have an expectation to defend ourselves in a home invasion. Would you expect a religious institute to have to move locations if they are being confronted with hostility at a specific place? what about a planned parenthood? Interesting. thanks.