Direct poll of American gun owners/NRA members

[SpecialKO]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/09/AR2009120903312.html

The poll, carried out by Frank Luntz, strongly suggests that gun owners are more reasonable in their views on gun control than the NRA lobbyists would have you believe.

In his survey of 832 gun owners, including 401 NRA members, Luntz found that 82 percent of NRA members supported "prohibiting people on the terrorist watch lists from purchasing guns." Sixty-nine percent favored "requiring all gun sellers at gun shows to conduct criminal background checks of the people buying guns," and 78 percent backed "requiring gun owners to alert police if their guns are lost or stolen." Among gun owners who did not belong to the NRA, the numbers were even higher.

Interesting...

EDIT: Direct link to the questions and results. They're quite NRA-friendly, actually.

 

[Shakey]

I don't think NRA members, or members of any other similar group, are nearly as radical as people are led to believe. I'd wager a good portion of NRA members are only members because there isn't a less radical group that advocates for gun rights as well as the NRA does.

 

[Kitty Sinatra]

That's not at all surprising to me. It seems that what they're essentially supporting is the status quo. Although gun shows apparently don't need to perform them, background checks are common at stores, right? And it seems reasonable to assume that people on no-fly lists would fail a background check, or at least that's exactly one of the types of people one would want the background check to catch if one supports background checks.

So as this seems like the status quo, and as all these people with guns have guns it would seem to them that the status quo is working well enough for them to support it.

 

[Dave]

It also depends on how the questions were asked and how the respondents felt they would be viewed by answering whatever.

For example, a hospital did a survey and then watched behaviors. 87% of the respondents said they washed their hands too much. When observed, they hardly ever did.

People answer surveys in ways different from what they really believe or act.

 

[SpecialKO]

Survey and results here.

Added to OP, as well.

 

[Soliloquy]

I think a bigger concern with a lot of gun advocates is not wanting to register their guns, after all background checks and whatnot are complete.

The rationale, as far as I understand it, is that if the government ever goes batshit crazy some time in the future, and wants to disarm its populace, they'll have a harder time of doing it without a gun registry.

I suppose that view is fair, since countries have been known to go batshit crazy from time to time.

 

[Dave]

Some of the people in that survey are morons and scare the shit out of me.

And I think a lot of them still answered as they thought people would want them to. I have an intense dislike of polls where they base data on asking people questions as the data is always bullshit.

 

[Chibibar]

another article about the NRA movement and law changes
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091211/ap_on_bi_ge/us_looser_gun_laws

 

[sixpackshaker]

I am a former NRA member. I believe in gun control. Because, if you squeeze the trigger you better hit what you are aiming at.

 

[Shakey]

They do word some of these questions in a way that pushes for the answers they want.

”The FBI should be able to access and keep information about gun purchases by terror suspects in cases similar to Major Hasan.”

The only way they would be able to do that is if they kept that information on everyone. If they would have just asked "Would you support the government requiring gun registration for everyone" the answers would be different.

I still think the conclusion is pretty close to the truth though. At least from the people I know, NRA members aren't as extreme on their views as the organization lets on.

 

[Soliloquy]

Some of the people in that survey are morons and scare the shit out of me.

And I think a lot of them still answered as they thought people would want them to. I have an intense dislike of polls where they base data on asking people questions as the data is always bullshit.

While I'm not necessarily saying you're wrong, that's kind of closed-minded of you, isn't it? You're refusing to believe what people say that they believe, because you've already decided that you know what they believe.

Open your miiiiiiiiind.

 

[SpecialKO]

They do word some of these questions in a way that pushes for the answers they want.

”The FBI should be able to access and keep information about gun purchases by terror suspects in cases similar to Major Hasan.”

The only way they would be able to do that is if they kept that information on everyone. If they would have just asked "Would you support the government requiring gun registration for everyone" the answers would be different.

Not necessarily. There is a great deal of difference between tracking credit card purchases/credit card applications and a national gun registry.

We don't have a "national game console registry", but if the FBI wanted to track down my ownership of game consoles, they wouldn't have to look too hard at my credit history.

I imagine the question is in relation to whether background check information would have to be destroyed if a particular red flag was triggered, such as being on a criminal/terrorist suspect list.

This should be more specifically stated, I think is the key.

 

[Dave]

Some of the people in that survey are morons and scare the shit out of me.

And I think a lot of them still answered as they thought people would want them to. I have an intense dislike of polls where they base data on asking people questions as the data is always bullshit.

While I'm not necessarily saying you're wrong, that's kind of closed-minded of you, isn't it? You're refusing to believe what people say that they believe, because you've already decided that you know what they believe.[/QUOTE]

That's exactly what I'm saying. It's why polls like this are inherently biased and shouldn't be used for anything other than mild amusement.

People lie on polls to make themselves look good and answer the way they think people want them to, not what they believe.

Take a poll of people outside of a restroom and ask them if they washed their hands. Then set up a camera inside to actually chart how often they do it. when others are present, etc. You'll find the data is radically different.

That's why this type of poll is crap.

 

[SpecialKO]

Some of the people in that survey are morons and scare the shit out of me.

And I think a lot of them still answered as they thought people would want them to. I have an intense dislike of polls where they base data on asking people questions as the data is always bullshit.

While I'm not necessarily saying you're wrong, that's kind of closed-minded of you, isn't it? You're refusing to believe what people say that they believe, because you've already decided that you know what they believe.[/QUOTE]

I think Dave is merely referring to observer bias. Politically-charged questions, even softball ones like these, can lead the surveyees to moderate their answers according to the tone of the question and how its being asked.

Given the background of the survey-giver, I doubt he had the surveyees hauled into a dark, single-light-bulb-lit room where a tattooed, scarred 6'5" 250 lbs. man with 0% body fat, brandishing a 2x4 with a rusty nail in it, asked them, "Do you think terrorists should have guns?! WELL, DO YOU?!!"

Or maybe...

 

[Shakey]

Seems like it would be kinda useless if you couldn't track past purchases easily. Also not every gun is purchased with a credit card, and they can track that now if they want to.

---------- Post added at 04:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:49 PM ----------

Sounded like it was a telephone poll to me, since one of the questions showed they were scattered around the country.

 

[fade]

It's not like Dave's making it up. It's in every Psych 101 or Anth 101 textbook. Hell, people do it on Facebook quizzes, for crying out loud.

 

[SpecialKO]

Seems like it would be kinda useless if you couldn't track past purchases easily. Also not every gun is purchased with a credit card, and they can track that now if they want to.

Which is why I believe the "information" in question is supposed to refer to the background information check, which the poll question doesn't really specify.

 

[Shakey]

It's not like Dave's making it up. It's in every Psych 101 or Anth 101 textbook. Hell, people do it on Facebook quizzes, for crying out loud.

I know he's not making it up, and I'm not saying he's wrong. All I'm saying is the people I know and have talked to(NRA members/gun owners/hunters/etc.) aren't really as extreme with their views as the NRA is. It's like saying everyone who is a member of the Sierra Club is a tree hugging hippy. I'd bet the majority are just people who want to support a well known organization that is helping the environment.

 

[Soliloquy]

There really needs to be another gun rights group that is different from the NRA in the same way that the SPCA is different from PETA.

 

[Kitty Sinatra]

Only if the NRA will then parade hot young chicks around in public wearing only guns.

 

[Twitch]

To make things clear, gun shows follow the same laws as everyone else. The people not doing background checks are private sellers, often selling by means of a cardboard sign on their back. The businesses at the shows are still required to run people.

 

[Deschain]

I am part of the NRA because it got me a year's worth of American Rifleman and entry into a gun exhibit.