By: Teresa Mull

“More gun control!” appears to be the go-to message for Democrats hoping to be elected this year.

“Candidates across the country and allied outside groups are seizing on the issue of guns in advertising this election cycle, but with a twist: More spots now promote gun control than oppose it,” USAToday.com reports.

“That messaging represents a reversal from the last midterm cycle in 2014 and even 2016, when the combined total of pro-gun-rights spots in governors, House, and Senate races eclipsed those touting restrictions on guns, according to a USA TODAY analysis of data from Kantar Media.”

The report shows Democrats have run approximately 18,000 pro-gun control ads this year, compared to 4,450 in 2016. Republicans, by contrast, have run about 8,000 anti-gun control ads this year, compared to nearly 13,000 in 2016.

Democrats are making a tough sell. “Three-in-ten American adults say they own a gun,” Pew Research reported last year, noting 11 percent don’t currently own a gun, but live in a household where a gun is present.

And despite a push by the March for Our Lives movement, which just wrapped up a summer tour promoting gun control and registering young people to vote for pro-gun control candidates, “Young people actually don’t differ much from their parents and grandparents on the issue of gun control,” Forbes.com reported earlier this month.

“Gallup data since 2015 indicate that on average, adults under 30 are only 1 percentage point more likely to support stricter gun laws than the national average of 57 percent. What’s more, 13- to 17-year-olds are actually slightly less likely to support raising the minimum purchase age for assault-style rifles. It also bears mentioning that just 10 percent of March for Our Lives attendees were under 18 years old.”

Teresa Mull is editor of Gunpowder Magazine. Contact her at [email protected].

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