Why Voting Doesn’t Rid Us of Bad Politicians

As the current gun rights battle wages on many gun owners are urging their fellows to remind the politicians what happens when they vote for gun control. The underlying threat is that any politician that votes for gun control will find themselves voted out of office next election cycle. This threat sounds good on paper but in the grand scheme of things it’s difficult, if not impossible, to get a politician removed from office based on any single issue. We live in a world where only a small minority of voters care about any single issue. Earlier I said that there were three factions in the current gun rights debate: gun rights advocates, gun control advocates, and everybody else who couldn’t care less. The last faction, the one made up by those who couldn’t care less, is by far the largest faction. Their votes aren’t going to change based on how a politician votes in regards to gun rights. In fact the faction of those who couldn’t care less is the biggest faction in any issue debate. Whether the issue being considered is monetary policy, foreign relations, same-sex marriages, or abortion is irrelevant, most people aren’t going to change their vote based on any single issue. Because of this a politician can afford to piss of any single issue group and not worry about their seat during the next election.

Gun rights advocates need to keep this in mind during this political debate. Telling a politician that their seat is in jeopardy if they vote for gun control is an empty threat. This is why gun owners should be developing a backup plan, one that can be done outside of the political system, if the recent slew of gun control bills pass. When election season comes up the gun control debate alone won’t be enough to get the current politicians out of office. If gun owners are lucky the politicians who vote for gun control will also vote in such a way that enough issue groups get angry and work together to oust them, but I wouldn’t bet my guns on it.