Cuomo Numbers Drop After Gun Ban

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo enjoyed the plaudits of the New York Times and other right-thinking types when he rammed through a law restricting "assault weapons" and limiting non-criminals in the Empire State to seven rounds in a magazine.

The new measure was clearly not all that popular with regular folks, however, as Cuomo's approval ratings took a nosedive from a previously stratospheric 74% to 59%. An approval rating of 59% is still plenty strong, but a 15% drop can leave no doubt that gun owners are not just a few lone nuts bitterly clinging to their firearms and religion.

Cuomo admitted the decline was impressive:

"I understand the sensitivity very, very well, and we all knew it going in," Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat, said. "There's no mystery to the fact that we've been dealing with this issue as a government and as a society for decades without action. Why? Because it's politically sensitive.

But we are not here to duck the tough issues. We are here to take on the tough issues."

Mr. Cuomo added that he believed that, with time, gun owners who were upset with him would reconsider their views.

Sorry Andy. We never forget and we never forgive. That 15% is irrelevant now, but the day will come when it makes the difference. Then the toll for "taking on the tough issues" will be exacted.

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