Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

Kaleva

(36,359 posts)
Sun Jun 30, 2019, 11:50 AM Jun 2019

Meet the members of the NRA


"The year 2018, of course, saw several events that likely contributed to the spike in NRA member dues and contributions—the largest being the midterm elections. With Democrats promising to pass new gun-control measures if elected, many gun-rights supporters likely joined the NRA in the run up to November. And given the election resulted in Democrats capturing the House of Representatives, bringing in a number of new high-profile representatives openly hostile to gun rights, it is likely that also drove membership up."

https://freebeacon.com/issues/nra-membership-dues-contributions-rebounded-in-2018/

"In electing Donald Trump as president, American voters “sent a loud and clear message” that gun rights are to be protected, the National Rifle Association’s chief lobbyist said.

“In the face of threats against their constitutional freedoms, NRA members and Second Amendment supporters rallied to elect a pro-gun president,” Chris Cox said in a statement. “Trump’s victory repudiates the assertion by gun control advocates that the political calculus regarding the Second Amendment has changed.”"

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2016/live-updates/general-election/real-time-updates-on-the-2016-election-voting-and-race-results/nra-voters-sent-a-loud-and-clear-message-about-gun-rights/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.92df32a30d2c

"A majority of gun owners (61%) are Republicans or lean to the Republican Party, but NRA members skew even more heavily to the political right than other gun owners. Roughly three-quarters (77%) of gun owners who say they belong to the NRA are Republicans or lean Republican, while only 20% are Democrats or lean Democratic. Among gun owners who do not belong to the NRA, by contrast, 58% are Republicans and 39% are Democrats. And among Republican gun owners, NRA members are much more likely than nonmembers to describe their political views as very conservative (29% vs. 18%).

....About half (52%) of Republican gun owners who belong to the NRA, for instance, say gun laws in the U.S. should be less strict than they are now; 33% of Republican gun owners who don’t belong to the NRA share this view."

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/07/05/among-gun-owners-nra-members-have-a-unique-set-of-views-and-experiences/

About the only gun control measures a majority of Republicans support is preventing mentally ill people from purchasing guns and having background checks for private sales and at gun shows. That's it. A majority oppose restrictions on assault weapons, high capacity magazines and creating a federal database to track gun sales.

It's a stretch to say that a majority of NRA members, of whom a majority are Republicans, support common sense gun control measures.

"But this bipartisan consensus breaks down when it comes to other proposals. Two-thirds of Americans (67%) favor creating a federal database to track gun sales, but there is a wide partisan divide between Democrats (84%) and Republicans (49%). A smaller majority of the public (55%) favors a ban on assault-style weapons; Democrats (69%) also are far more likely than Republicans (44%) to support this. Similar partisan divides exist when it comes to banning high-capacity ammunition clips or the sale of ammunition online.

... The latter option is particularly divisive across party lines: 56% of Republicans would like to see more teachers and school officials armed, compared with just 23% of Democrats."

https://www.people-press.org/2013/01/14/in-gun-control-debate-several-options-draw-majority-support/
Latest Discussions»General Discussion»Meet the members of the N...