PBS高端访谈:为什么公众对枪支管制的支持在下降?

 　　JUDY WOODRUFF: Next: the change in public attitudes and state laws when it comes to gun rights and restrictions¹.It’s long been one of the most divisive issues in America. And now several families who lost loved ones in Newtown Connecticut are suing the gunmaker. The lawsuit² was filed a day after the second anniversary of the massacre³ of 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The gunman, Adam Lanza, had already killed his mother, and ultimately shot himself to death as well.

　　Now families of 10 of the victims are suing the manufacturer, distributor and seller of the Bushmaster AR-15 rifle that Lanza used. The suit alleges⁴ negligence⁵ and wrongful death, and argues that the rifle shouldn’t have been available to civilians⁷ because it’s a military weapon.

　　Nicole Hockley’s six-year-old son, Dylan, died in the Sandy Hook shooting. She’s now one of the plaintiffs, and spoke⁸ to PBS NewsHour Weekend.

　　NICOLE HOCKLEY, Mother of Newtown Victim: Dylan was shot five times. So if we had a 10-magazine, 10-bullet limit, you know, instead of a 30, for all I know, Dylan could be alive today.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: After Newtown, the state of Connecticut did adopt some of the most restrictive gun policies in the nation. They include a ban on large-capacity magazines holding more than 10 rounds, background checks for all gun and ammunition⁹ purchases, and a prohibition¹⁰ on scores of assault-style weapons.

　　Overall, a San Francisco group, the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, says 37 states have passed nearly a hundred new gun laws since 2012. And some 200 lawmakers from all 50 states have formed an alliance against gun violence.

　　But gun rights advocates, including Connecticut State Representative Rob Sampson, argue that even limiting magazine capacity will not prevent tragedies like Newtown.

　　ROB SAMPSON (R), Connecticut State Representative: You can change a magazine in literally¹¹ one second. If I was to shoot you and say, I’m about to shoot you, and I have to change magazines first, boom, I’m done, you would never get to me in time. You wouldn’t even try.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: That sort of opposition¹² has blocked congressional action on new gun legislation. And the president’s nominee¹³ for U.S. surgeon general, Dr. Vivek Murthy, has been caught up in the debate for arguing gun violence is a serious public health issue.

　　For more on all this, we turn to Carroll Doherty. He’s director of political research at the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. And Joseph de Avila, who has been reporting on this and related stories for The Wall Street Journal.

　　And we welcome both of you.

　　Joe de Avila, why are these families suing?

　　JOSEPH DE AVILA, The Wall Street Journal: Well, they’re suing. They sued over this — the past weekend.

　　And what they’re trying to do is basically a lot of them are asking for their day in court. What has happened is that there was a law passed in 2005 that basically has not allowed any lawsuits¹⁴ against gun manufacturers.

　　There is one exception. There is — one of these exceptions is negligent¹⁵ entrustment¹⁶. So what essentially¹⁷ they’re arguing is that these — lawsuit, in order for it to go forward, they’re saying that the manufacturer of the gun and the distributor and also the store that sold this gun are basically selling a weapon that is unfit for civilian⁶ use.

　　And negligent entrustment, to give you an example, it kind of works in a way where one party gives a product to another party and trusts that product with that additional party. And if that other party commits harm to a third party, that is basically what happens under negligent entrustment.

　　So this is — this act is essentially saying this is what happened here. And basically they would want to have their day in court because they feel that this weapon, this AR-15, is not fit for civilians to use.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: And their lawyers are arguing they — they think they have a good case?

　　JOSEPH DE AVILA: They think they have a good case.

　　It really hasn’t been tested at this level before, so it’s going to be interesting to see how that plays out. It’s really going to be up to a judge to determine whether a manufacturer putting a gun into the marketplace to be purchased by the general public, whether that is included in negligent entrustment. And that’s going to have to be determined¹⁸ by a judge.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: So, Carroll Doherty, you have been look at what has happened to public opinion on guns.

　　CARROLL DOHERTY, Director of Political Research, Pew Research Center: Right.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: What have you seen since Newtown?

　　CARROLL DOHERTY: Well, you saw a rise in support for gun control in the immediate¹⁹ weeks after Newtown. And some of that has been reversed.

　　And, actually, for the first time in our polling on this broad measure of support for gun control vs. gun rights, for the first time, you see significantly more, 52 percent favoring gun rights, than gun control, 46 percent.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: Are you able to drill down a little deeper and determine why that is?

　　CARROLL DOHERTY: Well, deep partisan²⁰ gaps remain.

　　But one of the interesting things is the regional shift. In the Northeast, there is still strong support and unwavering support for gun control. In the South and the Midwest in particular, its support has dropped.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: But is it — is it — I mean, it’s counterintuitive, in a way…

　　CARROLL DOHERTY: Right.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: … because one thinks, after Newtown, after the shooting of congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, other highly publicized school shootings, despite all that?

　　CARROLL DOHERTY: Right.

　　Well, you still see support for individual measures, these specific measures like background — tougher background checks, things like that, large support. This is the overall climate, though, and it’s quite a bit different than it was in the 1990s, when — almost 2-1 support for gun control after, say, the Columbine shooting.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: You know, Joe de Avila, we — we mentioned a little while ago that the state of Connecticut passed some new restrictive gun laws.

　　What has happened in other states, though, in the two years since the shooting there at the school?

　　JOSEPH DE AVILA: Well, there’s been quite a few other states that have also strengthened their gun laws. Some 37 states have done something to improve the gun laws and some of the restrictions in those states.

　　So, Connecticut is one example. They passed universal background checks. They expanded their ban on what they call an assault rifle. They have also banned the sale of large-capacity magazines. New York state did some similar measures, as well as Colorado.

　　And you see in other states, Alabama, for example, where some of the gun laws are — have been loosened there. In Alabama, they have made it easier to get a concealed-carry permit. And in Georgia, for example, there, you are now able to take a gun into a bar or into a church or into a school.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: And what about the role of organizations like the National Rifle Association, the NRA, other of these national gun rights groups? What role have they played in seeing these laws get changed?

　　JOSEPH DE AVILA: Well, they have been lobbying for laws such as the ones where — in some of these states where they have loosened some of the regulations. They have definitely been in favor of those types of measures to make it easier for some people to either own a weapon or in some of the areas where they can carry a weapon.

　　And certainly in some of these states that have passed stricter gun laws, they have definitely been out there lobbying against these specific measures.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: Carroll Doherty, when you talk to folks about why they have different views on guns and whether the laws should be stricter or looser, do they give reasons of why their views are changing? What do they say?

　　CARROLL DOHERTY: Well, I mean, when we asked about the Senate bill, the failed Senate bill last year — or I guess in 2013 — and we asked people who — you know, their reactions afterward²¹, you know, some people who said that they supported background checks generally were a little wary²² of legislation.

　　They are worried about big government, worried about slippery slope to further control, things like that. I mean, even the objectives that get support in principle, there is a concern about new national legislation.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: And, Joe de Avila, the — we see most of the attention, though, is on the states. It’s moved away from Congress.

　　JOSEPH DE AVILA: Right, because they haven’t had any luck at the federal level.

　　And that’s one of the things that some of the families have mentioned why they wanted to bring this lawsuit in Connecticut, some of the Sandy Hook families, because they have had no success at the federal level, so they thought they would try it in the courts.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: All right, we are going to leave it there.

　　Joseph de Avila of The Wall Street Journal and Carroll Doherty the Pew Research Center, we thank you.

　　CARROLL DOHERTY: Thank you.

　　JOSEPH DE AVILA: Thank you.

1 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

2 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

3 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！

4 alleges   

断言，宣称，辩解( allege的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The newspaper article alleges that the mayor is corrupt. 报纸上断言该市长腐败。
• Steven was tardy this morning and alleges that his bus was late. 史提芬今天早上迟到的说词是公车误点了。

5 negligence   

n.疏忽，玩忽，粗心大意

参考例句：

• They charged him with negligence of duty.他们指责他玩忽职守。
• The traffic accident was allegedly due to negligence.这次车祸据说是由于疏忽造成的。

6 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

7 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

8 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

9 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

10 prohibition   

n.禁止；禁令，禁律

参考例句：

• The prohibition against drunken driving will save many lives.禁止酒后开车将会减少许多死亡事故。
• They voted in favour of the prohibition of smoking in public areas.他们投票赞成禁止在公共场所吸烟。

11 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

12 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

13 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

14 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句

15 negligent   

adj.疏忽的；玩忽的；粗心大意的

参考例句：

• The committee heard that he had been negligent in his duty.委员会听说他玩忽职守。
• If the government is proved negligent,compensation will be payable.如果证明是政府的疏忽，就应支付赔偿。

16 entrustment   

[法]委托

参考例句：

• The term of entrustment is divided into one-day five-day validity. 委托期限分为当日有效和五日有效。 来自互联网
• Chapter three discusses the bureaucratic group and the congressional entrustment of legislation. 第三章讨论官僚集团与国会立法权的委托。 来自互联网

17 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

18 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

19 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

20 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

21 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

22 wary   

adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的

参考例句：

• He is wary of telling secrets to others.他谨防向他人泄露秘密。
• Paula frowned,suddenly wary.宝拉皱了皱眉头，突然警惕起来。