By: Anthony Morelli
One thing happened on election night that had gun owners very excited.
Not only did Trump win, but another big thing happened too.
And now gun owners are thrilled as this big result will have a major impact.
Gloria Johnson is a state representative in Tennessee who has been a vocal proponent of passing new gun control laws.
She led a protest after the Covenant School shooting in Nashville where she joined with other legislators and activists in an attempt to force the state to pass gun control.
Of course, the shooting was a nightmare and a tragedy, but it is unlikely that the type of gun control Rep. Johnson was proposing would have done anything to stop it.
After all, there is no evidence that anyone else knew that shooter was planning to do what she did, and she likely would have passed background checks as well.
Rep. Johnson has a right to her opinions, but voters have a right to reject her candidacy as well, and when she tried to run for U.S. Senate, that’s exactly what happened.
She lost her race to Sen. Marsha Blackburn by a landslide margin, which will hopefully send a message to other candidates that gun control isn’t as popular as they think.
According to Bearing Arms, “Gun control was at the heart of Tennessee State Rep. Gloria Johnson’s candidacy for U.S. Senate, which helps to explain why it didn’t take long for our friends at DDHQ to project that incumbent Sen. Marsha Blackburn will win re-election.”
“Johnson captured the hearts and minds of Democrats around the country when she and two other Memphis-area legislators led protests for more gun control laws from the floor of the state House after the Covenant School Shootings last year. Johnson was hoping to use her newfound celebrity on the left as a springboard to the Senate, but even before the first returns came in there were clear signs that her campaign was struggling.”
Ultimately Blackburn defeated Johnson by a margin of 64%-34%, with the rest of the votes going to various 3rd party candidates.
This was a significant loss for a candidate who had staked most of her candidacy on gun control.
The article continues, “Last week the New York Times ran a glowing profile of Johnson, but admitted in the headline that her campaign ‘appears destined to fail.’ Instead of seeking victory, Johnson moved the goalposts for her campaign and said she was really thinking about ‘the importance of flipping the State House and the State Senate.’”
Rep. Johnson surely feels she is doing the right thing by fighting for gun control, but her views are very far out of step with the voters of her state.
And as well-intentioned as her views might be, there is very little evidence to suggest that gun control is the most effective way to stop school shootings.
The answer to school shootings is to do a better job securing school buildings. Voters of Tennessee apparently recognized that when they went to the polls.