Gun Control Obstructionist - Have Republicans Inherited a Genetic Thought Defect?

Huffington Post provides a summary of polling data about those who support and oppose gun control.  No surprise, the deadly issue is partisan. Polling doesn't, however, tell why people harbor partisan views about gun control. I'm wondering if the public divide is genetic or inherited - "my father believed in guns and (so) I do to" thinking, rather than based on facts.

Neither does public polling about gun control evaluate how many partisans, who oppose common sense regulations, consider themselves to be "pro life".   It seems like common sense to protect life in the wound from abortion as well as people walking the earth from death by gun violence. Not so.  People who are "pro life" about abortion typically believe in the death penalty and unmitigated second amendment rights to own arsenals of deadly weapons, regardless of how many people are killed by gun violence.  

I am glad to see the US Catholic bishops say gun regulation is a pro life issue.

There's no disputing the data about guns and death. Every gun related death has a cause and effect. Those who oppose controlling gun sales and regulations to limit ammunition clips must realize how their opposition flies in the face of pro life thinking. Nevertheless, gun control remains partisan. Facts and logical thinking don't seem to matter much.

Democrats, however, were significantly more likely than Republicans -- 77 percent versus 29 percent -- to support tighter controls.

Supporters of American second amendment rights take an uncompromising concrete view of the privilege to bear arms. This right was provided to American citizens by signers of the US Constitution, at a time when people defended themselves with muskets rather than assault weapons. Moreover, second amendment proponents project the cause of gun violence deaths to people rather than guns. They completely ignore the absolute fact that zero gun related deaths would occur if people with murderous intentions had no access to weapons.

Unfortunately, Americans remain politically divided over gun control, but (somewhat fortunately) they broadly favor a slate of proposals including background checks for gun sales, according to a poll released Tuesday by The Washington Post and ABC News. Also, the public is split evenly about whether President Barack Obama or congressional Republicans are more trustworthy in handling gun control, with Democrats and Republicans lining up behind their leaders in Washington.  Yet, a recent HuffPost/YouGov poll found that politicians on either side of the aisle could benefit by coming out in favor of background checks.
Overall, gun control advocates out number their opponents. Fifty-two percent of Americans supported stricter gun laws, and 45 percent opposed them, roughly unchanged from a Washington Post/ABC poll taken in the immediate aftermath of the Newtown, Conn., shooting. Underlying the polarization was far more consensus on some individual gun measures. An overwhelming 90 percent of registered voters in the Post/ABC poll favored a proposal requiring background checks at gun shows, confirming the results of several past surveys.

Although I'm obviously not a statistician, I'm willing to risk  the following assumption about Americans who continue to oppose any gun regulations - these zealots seem to be genetically wired to block common sense arguments that could change their opinion.  More troubling, those who obstruct gun controls are able to influence others who might be open to changing their minds.  They typically slam the door on discussion or debate on the issue.

Although support for universal background checks prior to purchasing guns is slowly gaining some support in the Congress, I'm wondering if people who oppose it should take a competency test to evaluate their ability to think coherently.  They could be asked a series of "yes" and "no" concrete questions like "do guns kill people?" (yes or no). This kind of simple screening could, at least, provide some correlation data about the thought processes of people who oppose regulating guns to save lives from preventable gun violence. 

There's certainly something logically wrong with the thinking process of people who simply won't equate gun violence with guns.  If this is a genetic defect or the result of inherited thinking from one generation to another, then it's time we vote out the defective thinkers and replace them with people who can evaluate the outcomes of obvious cause and effect. 

Politicians who obstruct gun control legislation should be voted out of office as being unfit to serve the well being of our nation.