Phys.org:

The finding contrasts with some depictions of gun violence prevention groups as “anti-gun.”

“When people talk about the ‘gun debate,’ it typically revolves around gun rights supporters and anti-gun people with no one in the middle,” said Aimee Huff, an assistant professor in OSU’s College of Business.

“We found these groups are in the middle. They strike a balance between individual rights and responsibilities to reduce death and injury.”

The study is one of the first to look at American gun violence prevention groups (GVPGs), many of which have formed in recent years after events such as the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting and the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.

The study is based on two years of analysis of nine gun violence prevention groups, some of which are focused nationally and others regionally or locally. The researchers interviewed leaders of the groups, attended their rallies and training sessions, talked to state legislators about them, monitored their social media pages and analyzed media coverage focused on them.

The consumer culture researchers sought to unpack the messaging of these groups, whom they describe in the paper using pseudonyms to protect their identities. They wanted to understand who the groups focus on, how they reach those people and the outcomes they hope to achieve.

They found that the groups position themselves as supporters of the Second Amendment, direct their messages to the middle-ground majority and communicate the everyday toll of gun violence using non-polarizing language.

[ … ]

The researchers conclude: “It is neither possible nor necessary to precisely identify the impact of GVPGs in these changes, but we assert it is reasonable to assume that they play an important role.”

I see.  An “important role” (I felt the freedom to put that in quotes since the cited link puts ‘gun debate’ in quotes).  I also put “researchers” in quotes in the title too.  I don’t believe that these people are researchers at all.  In fact, I doubt they have ever found a cure for cancer, developed new methods in computational fluid dynamics (CFD), developed new critical heat flux correlations, or conducted Charpy V-Notch testing on new materials.

The poor, poor gun controllers.  They are so maligned they needed some (ahem) “researchers” to tell people they are just like you and me, only more reasonable.  After all, they only want to control the ammunition you buy, dictate the bullet material, force “smart guns” on you, dictate the magazine capacity, and eventually take away your guns.

But take heart, they are people too.  And so misunderstood.