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Don’t Believe What Pollsters Say about the Gun Control Views of NRA Members

July 3, 2018 - 2:00pm
Marion Hammer
Marion Hammer

Time and again national pollsters insist on reporting how NRA members and other gun owners feel about gun control.  Don’t believe a word of it.  

None of these pollsters has access to NRA’s membership list. NRA strictly protects its membership list and doesn’t give it to mainstream media types, pollsters, solicitors or anyone else.  It is a private list and always has been. Anyone who claims to have access to NRA’s membership list is not telling the truth.

Pollsters simply ask people they survey if they are NRA members or gun owners. However, they have absolutely no way to determine whether the information they get is accurate. So despite their claims, they can’t accurately say how NRA members or gun owners feel about gun control.

In gun control polls conducted by national pollsters, it is folly to believe that gun owners tell pollsters the truth about NRA membership, gun ownership, or their views on gun control.  NRA members and gun owners aren’t inclined to share their personal information with people they don’t know.  

No one wants to be put on any kind of list of gun owners and that absolutely applies to lists created by pollsters for anti-gun clients.

It is folly to believe gun owners tell pollsters the truth about NRA membership or gun ownership.  It is even folly to believe the majority of people, whose privacy is interrupted by a pollster, tell pollsters the truth about anything.  

The media love to cite national polls that claim NRA members and gun owners support gun control. That’s because they’re trying to push a gun control narrative, and the “poll results” fit their political narrative. But that doesn’t make it true. 

The only legitimate poll of NRA members ever done was a national scientific survey commissioned by NRA. It surveyed 1,000 randomly-selected NRA members across the country and found that NRA members are united on today’s issues. 

  • 92 percent oppose banning the sale of firearms between private citizens.
  • 92 percent oppose background checks on the sale of firearms between private citizens.
  • 89 percent oppose banning so-called “assault weapons.”
  • 93 percent oppose gun registration.
  • 91 percent SUPPORT laws to keep guns out of the hands of people with mental illnesses.

That is the only legitimate survey of NRA members in existence. It was conducted to expose the bevy of pollsters reporting false survey results.

NRA members and other law-abiding gun owners know better than to believe anything they read, see or hear in the mainstream media about NRA membership views or gun owner views on gun control. You should too.

Marion P. Hammer is past president of the National Rifle Association and executive director of Unified Sportsmen of Florida. She represents both organizations in Florida.

Comments

This response is mainly to ochwill. We do not have a gun violence problem in America, we have a violence problem. More people are killed by other things: hands/fists, blunt objects and especially cars than killed by firearms in America. Logic and rationale will help dispel fiction from the facts. Emotions are great to have, but you should not let the dictate your behavior or you are no more than an animal. The second amendment is a right guaranteed to the American citizen which allows us to defend our unalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I appreciate all the civil debate from both sides and would like to input my own. For people who like to claim their opinion is based on statistics and logic (byself for one) look at comprehensive research done by Prof(s) Kleck, Lott and one from NW university, who are criminologists and study the issue. The articles offered by commentators have been read and are to me factually vacant, biased a waste of my time to say the least. Handguns are the cause of most of the total firearms related deaths in America, but are not as widely disliked as the AR-15, AK47 type long gun. I do not use the term assault rifle/weapon due to the lack of precise definition. Criminals using handguns are the cause of most of the deaths that are not suicides in America. The lack of prosecutions for firearms crimes are the biggest reason for the number of murders. Prosecutors regularly plea down weapons charges, ensuring the criminals are not held accountable, putting them back on the streets to commit another crime instead of remaining incarcerated for said charges. Criminals regularly have others purchase firearms for them (straw purchases) but many of these people are not prosecuted. The Fast and Furious scandal perpetrated by the Obama administration allowed thousand of firearms to be sold and smuggled across international borders. you erroneously state Illinois as having "pretty LOW gun violence statistics". Do you know Chicago is in Illinois? There would be no issue of guns going across state lines if all states abided by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America. Responsible firearms owners maintain their weapons, keep them safe while being used, when stored and teach their families how to be safe and responsible around firearms. The NRA along with the NSSF are groups that conduct firearms safety programs, they do not oppose them, for children and general public to help reduce the number of accidental deaths, which has happened. Children are inquisitive and if not shown how to be safe with things, can and do hurt themselves. Liberals/leftists are opposed to teaching firearm safety, they want to ban firearms, for whatever the perceived reason. Firearms give battered and abused people practical protection against perpetrators much more so than a restraining order from a court of law. The sane reasons for possessing firearms is much greater than the reasons for not having the right to do so. In my opinion the biggest issue/problem in America is "gun free zones". These places ensure the criminal that there will be no defense against them to commit an act of violence. Law abiding citizens obey the law, criminals by the very definition of the word do not. Concealed carry persons are more law abiding than even law enforcement officers in general when it comes to firearms violations, because we do not want to lose the right to carry. Mental illness is another. Many of the mass murderers in recent history have had issues of mental illness. Many of these people have been on psychotropic drugs from a young age. Drugs that were/are not intended to be used on adolescents. Anyone purchasing a new firearm has to go through a NICS background check to ensure eligibility has been met according to the federal government. Serial numbers of each weapon is recorded along with type of weapon so if the weapon is used in a crime it can be traced back to the original owner. One of the reasons firearms owners and libertarians oppose federal gun registry is the same governments that have the registry return to confiscate the firearms on the list (Australia, Germany, Great Britain). Great Britain and Germany both who severely restrict firearm ownership are having an outbreak of knife attacks. You cannot stop people from committing violent attacks. Keeping ammunition separate from the firearm prevents the immediate use of firearm in self defense situations. As stated by another commentator, the AR-15 was developed for civilian use before it was acquired for military use, as with many other firearms. Also many firearms, especially double stack handguns have a magazine which is standard for that model, which people opposed to firearms consider "high capacity". Who gets to determine the number of rounds each and every firearm gets to have to be qualified to possess? You yourself use statistics from dubious but very political organizations along with polls, which are very subjective as proofs. I could go on, but have to go. 2A all the way.

Thanks for writing. You appear to be in complete and total denial about gun violence in america and you wrote a lot of misleading information in your response.. It appears you couldn't even absorb the information I did share with you about gun violence in americA. Your post is baseless. Which suggests you haven't researched gun violence in america whatsoever.If you're capable of logic and reason, You can go to Everytown or #MarchForOurLives or ViolencePolicy.org to learn as bout gun violence. I'll just share a few points and hope you go do some studying before you post again Cheers

Idiot

Anonymous "Idiot" People write insults when they've already lost the argument. America has over 30,000 people killed annually by bullets that come from the barrel of a rifle,pistol or shotgun. You can't even comprehend that? Logic. Not your strong suit. Pathetic.

I notice you didn't back up your judgement with any statements/facts, nor have the fortitude to put even your first name.

Preach it, Brother!

You idiots have no idea how polling works. This screed sounds as though it was written by a fourth grader with access to a thesaurus. Try again old lady... this time without your extreme bias clouding the truth.

This is a classic example of ignorant, mindless attacking. Nunya has nothing to say about the issue. Childish, school yard attacks on Ms. Hammer reveals who really knows nothing about polling.

Shocking, an anti-polling op-ed by someone who doesn't understand polling.

You can bet the truth is somewhere in the middle...

Give an idiot a rope, and he will hang himself. Ocheill did just that. In one of his posts, he directs readers to #Marchforourlives for (what he claims are) bonifide statistics. Later, he claims to be a gun violence researcher. What legitimate researcher would rely on a partisan political group for his statistics? Second, he struggles to establish credibility by trotting out his (supposedly) hero credentials. I’ve seen this a million times from Libturds trying to bluff their way into a conservative conversation. Notice how he tosses out some of the “lingo” to legitimize himself. Just like he discredits Ms. Hammer, I discredit him. I don’t believe a word this guy says, and I am not thanking him for his service as I don’t believe he served. Finally, regarding all of these “surveys” Ms. Hammer discussed, ask yourselves a question. As long as these phony surveys have been around telling us how NRA members support gun control, have you, or your friends, or your fellow club members, or anybody you know ever talked of being “surveyed” by one of these left-wing organizations? Me neither! Ochwill is a Troll loving in his mommy’s basement.

Hey Jobo. You did not post a SINGLE statistic regarding gun violence to refute my post. So all you did was throw out some insults and then deny the statistics. Terrific !! Plus you of course immediately used the ad hominem argument, which is basically, I can't argue with what you said so I'll just call you names. IMPRESSIVE !

Thanks for attacking my credibility. But you fail to follow the logic and resort to partisanship.\Worse, you minimize or deny gun violence statistics instead of posting any numbers of your own. Which tells me you have nothing intelligent to say about gun violence in america. The truth hurts doesn't it? Actually I'm a successful oil and gas geologist by the way. And resorting to ad hominem (insults) is a common ploy for those who have nothing meaningfull or helpful to say. Which so far, you don't. Gun violence statistics are well documented in research literature. If you'd bother to research that you'd know it. Furthermore, what POSSIBLE use would a gun safety advocate have in posting fake numbers. If you're afraid of the numbers because of where they're posted, thats a real problem for your ability to evaluate whats true and whats propaganda. And right now, your knowledge is apparently, pretty low. Cheers. Will F. 1973-1979 0302 infantry officer, US Marines.

You nailed it. Well done. Ochwill's basement life has produced a keyboard cowboy with no horse and no saddle

Yup Thas me. Except that I was Second Lieutenant is the Marines at the age of 21 out of NROTC at USC. That I graduated 7th of 235 lieutenants at the six month Marine Officers Basic Course in Quantico and served 5 years on active duty as an infantry officer. Or that I captained the team that won the Smith Trophy in the Marines competitive marksmanship reprograms or that I went on to a successful and propserous career as an oil and gas geologist. Now, since you don't have the intelligence to have a logical discussion about gun violence in america apparently, I won't respond to any other of your comments until you say something intelligent.

Its Real Simple: Democrats Only want 2 things: Your Money and Your Rights!

If we didn't have the free speech rights guaranteed by the First Amendment, a lot of you jerkwaters wouldn't be able to spew your hatred and venom from your keyboards. If we didn't have gun rights that are guaranteed by the Second Amendment, you damn sure wouldn't have First Amendment rights. So while you use your First Amendment rights to attack Second Amendment rights, you better be sure if we ever lose our guns, that your puny little keyboard will keep you safe.

Thanks for sharing. Please go to ViolencePolicy.org, or Everytown to learn about gun violence in america and how we can reduce/prevent a lot iof it. Thanks

No matter how many laws are made the only ones who will obey the law are law-abiding citizens. Outlaws DON'T obey laws and never will. Guns used in self-defense prevent two million crimes a year. There are 380 million guns in the USA. 120 guns for every 100 people in the USA. Women and old men have an equalizer when they carry a gun. You are your family's first line of defense. Police in Maryland arrived very quickly, less and 2 minutes, but 5 people died. If they had been armed death toll may have been lower but they at least would have had a fighting chance instead of just being slaughtered. ALWAYS WEAR YOUR SEATBELTS AND ALWAYS CARRY.

Two million crimes?? Sure.....

Why is it so damn hard for these liberal "gun-controlling" bozos to understand that it should not be the law-abiding gun owning citizen they need to fear, but the thugs and gangsters out there who possess their guns illegally? If they would get their heads out of their collective butts they would see this, but sadly they won't remove the blinders they are wearing to allow for their peripheral vision see the whole picture.

Steve: Because the thugs and the gangsters who possess guns illegally are not preventing them from gaining the political power the gun controlling bozos crave. WE, the legal, law abiding citizens stand in their way. We are the ones who are preventing the communists who call themselves "democrats" from getting power. We are the ones who voted for Trump and for liberty minded candidates and kept them from power in 2016. They don't want an end to legal firearm ownership because they're scared of church-going Bob down the street; they want an end to legal firearm ownership because they want to be the ONLY ONES with that power (through an all-powerful state). Once they have that power, they know controlling us won't be a problem. Mao: "political power grows from the barrel of a gun". Lenin: "one man with a gun can control 100 without one".

This attack by liberals is really getting old. They want all of the guns in the country by passing new laws without enforcing those on the books. The top 5 bankrupt cities are all run by my liberal friends. I don’t have any bullshit polls, to show, however I do have a few questions: 1. How many liberals own firearms and are they registered? It reminds me a little like our insurance that our friends shoved down our throats. Ask your congressman which Obama insurance plan they use for their family. I’m sure they use one of the plans they passed. Also ask them how long they must work to be fully vested for retirement. 2. We have had a number of senseless killings in this country. The question I have here is how many of these horrible killings ere committed by an NRA member? I have never heard this statistic. 3. I also am curious as to how many members have saved or stopped a felony that was in progress. Well if my personal poll is correct it just might be a stat they don’t want to hear. The clowns that are elected only care about their reelection. If I was elected to this railroad Congress I can assure you I would only be there for one term. My father was a double vet , WW11 and the Korean conflict. He had weapons and at a young age I was taught how to hunt, clean and eat anything I shot. I was unfortunately diagnosed with Alzheimer’s about 4 years ago. The day I was diagnosed I gave about 40 weapons away. I didn’t need a law to guide me with common sense. It's amazing to me how the left can't get over the election. They can't stand the fact they lost. Let it go and get to ​wor​​​​​​k. DE ​ ​

RodCannon - I couldn't have said it any better thank you!

"Why is it so damn hard for these liberal "gun-controlling" bozos to understand that it should not be the law-abiding gun owning citizen they need to fear..." Possibly because the background check system is so full of holes that some so-called 'law-abiding gun owning citizens' turn out to be violent killers.

Why do Communist-Democrats even post anything on this site?? They can't really believe their rhetoric--So they must be getting paid!!

FIRST ROUGH - They post here because their sites are so toxic they think they make ours toxic also. What they fail to grasp is we don't care what they say or think we know they are all mental defects and need to be deported along with their illegals and refugees.

Only a pure idiot would believe any polls today.

Well, I'm amused to have Ms. Hammer admit that all those TAG (Truth About Gun Owner) polls I have responded to over the years were just marketing ploys.

Dean Willis - If your responding to any other gun related poll not of the NRA then yes you should be made aware they are just asking leading questions all for the purpose to collect your personal info not your thoughts. Now should the poll have came from the NRA then you can answer it knowing it will count as a answer from a real gun owner not a fishing expedition for personal info.

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