Good News on Young People and Gun Control

Townhall.com ^ | December 18, 2014 | Daniel J. Mitchell

[Kaslin]

I periodically share polling data on issues ranging from which nations most support capitalism to the degree to which government is a leading cause of stress.

Or how about the poll of Americans on the best and worst Presidents since World War II, or the survey data on what share of government spending is wasted.

Today, we’re going to expand on that collection by reviewing some potential good news about attitudes of young people and attitudes about guns. But this isn’t about how young people owning guns, or how they feel about guns.

Instead, we’re going to review two separate pieces of information, one about whether young people want to work for the federal government and another about an online poll about gun control that backfired. And both are somewhat encouraging, albeit not very scientific.

With regards to young people, I was very pleased to read a story in the Washington Post indicating that President Obama is failing in his attempt to make government jobs “cool again.”

Six years after candidate Barack Obama vowed to make working for government “cool again,” federal hiring of young people is instead tailing off and many millennials are heading for the door. The share of the federal workforce under the age of 30 dropped to 7 percent this year, the lowest figure in nearly a decade, government figures show. …top government officials, including at the White House, are growing increasingly distressed about the dwindling role played by young workers.

Let’s hope this is true. The last thing we want is talented young people diverted from productive employment into the suffocating embrace of government bureaucracy.

But the key issue from my perspective is why young people prefer the private sector.

If it’s because they want to do something meaningful, or because they recognize government bureaucracy is a black hole of inefficiency, or because they don’t want to be a burden on taxpayers, I would view any of those explanations as a positive sign. Perhaps even an indication of growing social capital.

But there’s a less-optimistic explanation. Maybe young people actually do want overpaid positions as regulators, paper pushers, and memo writers, but haven’t had much luck simply because the process is so inefficient and/or the money isn’t there because of the spending restraint in recent years.

Danzig said that the federal shutdown, furloughs and pay freezes in recent years have eroded the attraction of working for the government. …For those millennials who still want to land a government job, the hiring process can be an infuriating mystery. And the government’s Pathways internship program, designed to help launch young people on a federal career, is so beset by problems that only a trickle of workers has been hired. …then Congress imposed the automatic budget cuts called “sequestration.” …Budget cuts have forced agencies to slow the hiring pipeline in the past two years, and with job prospects in the private sector improving after the long economic slowdown, millennials are increasingly taking jobs outside government, where they can see a better chance of advancement.

The most encouraging part of the story is that some young people who did land government jobs have decided to jump ship and go into the private sector.

That’s a win-win for taxpayers and the economy.

These millennials no longer are a burden on people in the productive sector of the economy and they’re also presumably now doing things that are far more likely to add value to society.

Sort of like when a welfare recipient is rescued from government dependency and becomes self-sufficient.

But you won’t be surprised to learn the Obama Administration isn’t giving up.

The agency’s director, Katherine Archuleta, has been visiting college campuses to urge students to consider federal careers. …“We know hiring millennials is really critical to the future of the government,” she said. …Meanwhile, the Obama administration has been working to revamp the Pathways federal internship program for college students and recent graduates.

None of this is a surprise. The White House presumably understands that a bigger government workforce means more voters who are likely to support candidates that want to expand the size and scope of government.

Our second example comes from the scroungers at PBS. The government-subsidized broadcasters did a story on gun control and included an online poll.

There was nothing remarkable about the story, just the usual pro-gun control agitprop, but the polling results must have been a big disappointment to the PBS crowd.

Wow, 95 percent-4 percent in favor of the Second Amendment.

To be sure, online surveys are completely unscientific and I’m sure some pro-gun rights people must have actively encouraged votes.

Nonetheless, I still find the results amusing if for no other reason than they undermined the narrative that PBS doubtlessly was hoping to create.

P.S. Based on this actual polling data, many millennials are quite confused and inconsistent in their views about public policy, so they probably are very well suited for careers in government. Which is all the more reason to push them in the private sector where a bit of real-world experience would probably help them think more clearly.

P.P.S. Since the title of today’s column was about young people and guns, I can’t resist sharing this feel-good story from Georgia.

A local gun club gave young people an opportunity to pose with Santa Claus and some of their favorite weapons.

Reminds me of the time I took my kids into the woods of Vermont so they could shoot an AK-47.

There was snow on the ground, but Santa Claus was absent, so I can’t say I matched the experience the gun club provided.

However, as you can see by clicking here, I raised my kids with good values about the Second Amendment.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

Strange. The firearms look the same in both photos! Are they just props?

Still nice! I turned mine in at a gun buy back for $50.00 in credit for Christmas.

Ok, I never was much of a liar!

[Noamie]

Video games.

Poo-pooed by some around here, they are the single, number one, driving force behind a pro-gun view among our young.

They sure as hell aren’t hunting and learning it that way because most kids live in cities now.

[RKBA Democrat]

Pretty girls and guns. What’s not to like? Santa looks pretty jolly in these photos.