Article in the Guardian on gun control and direct democracy

I wrote this article in The Guardian on direct democracy and gun control. The original piece used the confederate flag debate as a jumping off point for why gun control has not had anything like the same result (that part was cut by the editors to make it tighter -- not a surprise). In the article, I look at how grassroots gun rights groups have successfully used direct democracy to advance their cause and show their strength, and how this may be one of the few avenues left for gun control groups to try and reclaim lost ground.

Obviously, this has been a topic of great debate on this blog and elsewhere. Another part that didn't make the final product was a brief discussion of the 1994 California gun control recall against State Senate President David Roberti, which I go into much greater depth in the link. Here's a post on the aftermath of the Colorado recalls, which may also be worth checking out.

One of the big points that should be made on the topic and is frequently lost in the noise as established groups trying to grab credit or place blame on the deeper pockets and better known names is that a number of these recalls were truly started by the grassroots, and in the case of Colorado, in opposition to the position of the established gun rights groups.