By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
A new Rasmussen poll released Tuesday shows Vice President Kamala Harris with a 51 percent unfavorable rating among likely voters, with only a week remaining until the national election.
Coincidental to that survey release, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms issued a call to gun owners to vote, noting a report that Donald Trump is up by 6 points on the gun rights issue. The national grassroots gun rights organization said in a statement that gun voters could make the difference, especially in critical “battleground states.”
“I believe gun owners could provide the winning difference in many parts of the country, especially key battleground states such as Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Wisconsin and Arizona,” said Alan Gottlieb, chairman of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.
If so, the more gun owners submitting ballots the better for Second Amendment issues, the organization intimated. But it could be a fight to the finish.
According to Rasmussen, 47 percent of likely voters view Harris favorably, including 33 percent who have a very favorable opinion. The polling firm also revealed “38% of voters say their opinion of Harris has become more favorable since she replaced Joe Biden as the Democratic Party presidential candidate, but 40% say their opinion of her has become less favorable.”
The survey of 2,956 U.S. Likely Voters was conducted on October 17 and 20-21, 2024 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 2 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.
According to Rasmussen, “42% believe Harris is the best possible presidential candidate the Democratic Party could have nominated, but 49% think Democrats would have a better chance of winning if they had nominated another presidential candidate instead of Harris.”
Overall, 75 percent of Democrats think Harris is the best possible candidate, an opinion shared by only 18 percent of Republicans and 30 percent of Independents.
“Sixty-eight percent (68%) of Democrats, 15% of Republicans and 28% of unaffiliated voters say their opinion of Harris has become more favorable since she replaced Biden as the Democratic Party presidential candidate,” Rasmussen said. “Sixty percent (60%) of Republicans, 16% of Democrats and 46% of unaffiliated voters say their opinion of Harris has become less favorable since she became the Democrats’ presidential candidate.”
It is because of numbers like this that CCRKBA’s Gottlieb is urging gun owners to get out and vote. Traditionally, hunters and gun owners have been lethargic to apathetic about voting, but this year the stakes are high, Gottlieb stressed.
“The future of our Second Amendment is on the line next Tuesday,” he said. “America’s gun owners have the opportunity to make the difference. Elections matter and they have consequences. The next president will make judicial appointments, which could include filling Supreme Court vacancies. It is imperative that gun owners keep this in mind when casting their ballots. The next president will appoint heads of the Justice Department, FBI and ATF. These people will set policies directly affecting America’s hunters, competitive shooters and all men and women who own, or hope to buy, guns to protect their families and homes.
“It should be clear by now which candidate has the interests, and rights, of gun owners as a priority and who doesn’t,” he observed. “Kamala Harris has a history of supporting restrictive gun ban and control policies, and despite her claim to be a gun owner, when it comes to Second Amendment issues, she can’t shoot straight. Her running mate, Tim Walz—despite his reputation as an avid hunter—recently demonstrated in a video he has trouble loading his own shotgun.”
On the other hand, Gottlieb said Trump has already demonstrated his attitude about Second Amendment rights by appointing some 300 federal judges and three conservative Supreme Court justices, with the result being more favorable rulings in lower courts and the 2022 Bruen decision by the high court.
“Trump has already shown his preference for appointing judges, including Supreme Court justices, who adhere to the Constitution,” Gottlieb noted, “and the next four years are certain to provide more opportunities to fill important vacancies up and down the court ladder.
“Gun owners need to vote,” he said. “This is not the time to let apathy and lethargy keep you away from the polls. The Second Amendment matters now more than ever.”
