John Lott wrote an op-ed column for the Los Angeles Times ripping a National Academy of Sciences panel that is going to study the effects of gun control laws. The short version is that the panel is stacked with pro-gun control folks.
Lott isn’t the only one to note the panel’s interesting timetable: it is scheduled to release its report right before the 2004 election. The implication Lott and others draw is that the panel will rubber stamp pro-gun control arguments and give a gift to Democratic candidates.
But regardless of whether or not the NAS has politicized the issue, if anything the release of such a report would likely harm the prospects of Democrats. After all, there’s a reason why Al Gore avoided talking about his position on guns, and went so far as to try to reassure gun owners that he was a good ol’ boy from the South who wouldn’t dream of taking away their rifles.
Pro-gun folks tend to be tenacious single issue voters and can tip the scales of an election in many rural districts. Except in heavily urban areas where gun control arguments are most popular, Democrats benefit from a certain level of amibiguity in their party’s position. If the NAS report comes out before the 2004 election and forces Democrats further to the Left on gun control issues, I’m not sure how that helps them very much.