Zogby: "(83 percent) support concealed-carry laws, while only 11 percent oppose"

[mblat]

The poll is scientific. Even with a large margin for error it's very significant. This goes especially during a time when those like Barbara Boxer would like to downplay support for CCW in this country. There aren't 40 shall issue states because people don't support it.

I wish you were right. Simply because 80% support virtually guarantees some kind of progress in that area sooner than later.

[hvengel]

Also keep in mind that the recent CCW vote in the Senate was 58 to 39 in favor of CCW. This means that some thing like 20 Democratic Senators voted for it. Fully 1/3 of the Democrats in that chamber. Do you think that would have happened if the political class was not understanding that there was a large majority in favor of CCW.

About a month ago I was at a lab having a blood sample taken. The phlebotomist. told me a story about how she had helped a person with car trouble. She talked about how she almost didn't stop because she was concerned about running into someone who was up to no good and it was late a night (she was on her way home from work late at night). She stopped anyway which in my mind was a courageous thing to do. I turned this into an opportunity to talk about CCW by pointing out that in 40 states anyone who is not prohibited from owning a gun can get a CCW permit. She was very surprised by this so it was clear that CCW was not something that she was familiar with. I then pointed out that in a situation like the one she talked about that it would have made it less dangerous for her to help a stranger simply because with a CCW she would still stand a good chance of being able to extricate herself from the situation if the person being helped turned out to be a bad actor. She was receptive and asked me for more information and we chatted about this for perhaps 5 minutes. I think in the end that she was at least receptive to the idea that California law should be changed to be more like the 40 shall issue states.

I would also add that when I chat with people about CCW even in the liberal Bay Area the number of people who reflexively reject CCW is relatively small. Most simply know nothing about and many individuals are receptive or are clearly in favor once they learn more. I also think the recent very public debate over the Senates CCW vote may have raised awareness of this significantly and that this debate may have exposed a large number of people to our side of the argument. Since the facts clearly support our side I think this exposure may be one of the reasons that the numbers in this poll are so high.