Gun Owners, NRA Members Once Again Show Strong Support For Reasonable Gun Restrictions

Dec 11, 2009

Washington, DC  – A new poll commissioned by the Mayors Against Illegal Guns, and conducted by Republican pollster Frank Luntz, confirms surveys conducted as far back as 1989 which show strong support for gun violence prevention laws from gun owners as well as members of the National Rifle Association. 

Paul Helmke, President of Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said, "For at least 20 years the NRA's leaders have misrepresented to elected officials the feelings of their members on many common sense measures to reduce gun violence.  These polls show that NRA members strongly support Brady criminal background checks for all gun sales at gun shows, and also strongly support keeping guns out of the hands of suspected terrorists.  Yet the NRA's leadership ignores not only the wishes of the American people but also their own dues-paying members by blocking these and other policies that will help save lives."

In the Luntz poll, 82% of NRA members supported prohibiting people on the "Terrorist Watch List" from buying guns.  Another 69% of NRA members supported requiring Brady criminal background checks for all gun sales at gun shows.  The NRA's leaders oppose both of these policies.

In a separate survey of Election Day voters in November 2008, commissioned by the Brady Campaign and conducted by the firm, Penn, Schoen & Berland, 84% of gun-owning voters favored Brady criminal background checks for all gun sales, while another 60% of gun-owning voters favored the registration of gun sales and the licensing of gun owners.

And in 1993, two researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health – using survey data from a 1989 TIME Magazine/CNN survey – concluded, "[T]he support for the NRA is strongest when measured in very general terms….  However, when gun owners are asked about specific regulatory requirements, they often support the regulation, disagreeing with the stated position of the organization [the NRA].  This finding holds for both NRA members and nonmembers."

Brady President Paul Helmke asked, "When will Congress start listening to the American people, including NRA members and gun owners, instead of responding to the dictates of NRA bosses?"

• Read about the new Mayors' survey conducted by Republican pollster Frank Luntz here: http://www.mayorsagainstillegalguns.org/html/federal/nra_member_poll.shtml

• Read the Election 2008 Brady Campaign survey conducted by Penn, Schoen & Berland here: http://www.bradycampaign.org/xshare/pdf/memo-11-18-08.pdf

• Read the study by Harvard School of Public Health researchers using 1989 survey data of NRA members here:  http://www.bradycampaign.org/xshare/pdf/facts/1993-weil-Gun-Owners.pdf

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As the nation's largest, non-partisan, grassroots organization leading the fight to prevent gun violence, the Brady Campaign, with its dedicated network of Million Mom March Chapters, works to enact and enforce sensible gun laws, regulations and public policies. The Brady Campaign is devoted to creating an America free from gun violence, where all Americans are safe at home, at school, at work, and in our communities.

For continuing insight and comment on the gun issue, read Paul Helmke's blog at www.bradycampaign.org/blog/. Visit the Brady Campaign website at www.bradycampaign.org.