March For Our Lives protester, Washington, D.C., March 24, 2018
Recently, in the wake of the Parkland, Florida school shootings, we called upon advocates of universal gun background checks, a renewed Assault Weapons Ban and other such steps to apply a powerful label to their efforts. We pointed out that the traditional label “gun control” is outdated and inaccurate, because, for example, steps like universal background checks don’t literally “control” guns, and in any case, “gun control” sounds like a Big Government Nanny State that many people don’t like. We like to use the phrase “gun violence” to point out the problem America faces, and to include it in descriptions of the measures needed to solve it, such as “gun violence legislation.” However, there are plenty of other good terms to use. The following is an evergreen list of effective-sounding replacement phrases for “gun control” that are being used in the current debate, including our sources of such phrases where known. We will be adding new terms to the list as they come up, and we encourage commenters to provide suggestions:
“Commonsense gun safety laws” — Senator Dianne Feinstein email April 1, 2018. Senator Feinstein deserves special mention, as a leader in the fight against gun violence. She authored the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban that was in place until 2004, and has spearheaded efforts to renew the ban since then. A number of Sen. Feinstein’s phrases are listed here.
“Commonsense gun safety measures” — Rep. Joe Kennedy III for Congress, email, May 19, 2018
“Commonsense gun violence solutions” — DNC video, March 12, 2018
“Common-sense laws to reduce gun violence” — Messaging Matters
“Gun law reform” — Crooks and Liars headline, April 7, 2018
“Gun laws” — Messaging Matters, July 2012
“Gun legislation” — Sen. Feinstein email April 1, 2018
“Gun reform” — Sen. Feinstein speech Feb. 22, 2018
“Gun safety” — Everytown for Gun Safety, 2014
“Gun safety laws” — Sen. Feinstein speech March 12, 2018
“Gun safety legislation” — Sen. Feinstein press release March 1, 2018
“Gun safety reform” — Sen. Feinstein email April 1, 2018
“Gun violence legislation” — Messaging Matters
“Gun violence reforms” — Sen. Feinstein speech March 1, 2018
“Reasonable gun safety laws” — Vice President Kamala Harris, White House event, April 8, 2021.
“Reform our gun laws” — Sen. Feinstein press release Feb. 28, 2018
“Sensible gun laws” — Fran @berkfran tweet, April 22, 2018
“Sensible gun legislation” — NFL Bud @BudJudkins tweet, April 22, 2018
“Sensible gun reform” — David Hoffman @DavidHoffman tweet, April 20, 2018
“Sensible gun regulations” — D-sign 4 you @D_sign4you tweet, April 22, 2018
“Sensible gun safety laws” — Messaging Matters, Jan. 2013
“Sensible gun safety legislation” — Rep. Joe Kennedy III for Congress, email, May 19, 2018
“Stricter gun laws” — Quinnipiac University poll, April 19, 2018
“Stronger gun laws” — Sen. Feinstein tweet, April 19, 2018
Many of these phrases are similar, and most strike a reasonable-sounding tone, reflecting the reasonableness of proposals that are well within the Second Amendment, and which could help reduce the gun violence epidemic in America. We think most of these would be effective replacements for “gun control,” and would successfully move the debate forward.
Photo by Phil Roeder, used under Creative Commons license. https://is.gd/nidCA7
