Most gun owners don’t belong to the NRA — and they don’t agree with it either

[SecularMotion]

It's widely acknowledged that the National Rifle Association is one of the nation's most influential advocacy groups. They've successfully lobbied against the expansion of federal gun control policies in the post-Newtown era, and supported numerous state-level policy changes that broadened access to guns. Through campaign donations and popular legislator scorecards they exert considerable influence on federal gun law making.

Given its high profile, it's easy to assume that the NRA represents the voice of American gun owners. But in fact, the organization's membership numbers and survey data point a different picture. Only a small fraction of the nation's gun owners are NRA members. Even among NRA members, there is widespread dissent from some key points of the organization's orthodoxy. And on many gun control issues, the majority of gun owners who aren't affiliated with the NRA hold opinions closer to those of non-gun owners than to those of NRA members.

Let's start with the membership numbers. In recent years the NRA has said it has 5 million dues-paying members. There's some reason to be skeptical of this figure, but let's assume 5 million is right. Those 5 million members only comprise somewhere between 6 and 7 percent of American gun owners. That would imply that the overwhelming majority of American gun owners -- over 90 percent of them -- do not belong to the NRA.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2015/10/15/most-gun-owners-dont-belong-to-the-nra-and-they-dont-agree-with-it-either/

[ileus]

1. Problem is the other 73-81 million don't care for gun bans either.

And there is the real power....those 73-81 million aren't shy about calling their reps and saying "Tell them no".

Banners can cry about the NRA all they want, but those 5 million are just the start of a major voting bloc. What banners will never understand is you can't tell 80 million people to fuck off and die.

[sarisataka]

2. Can you think of any reason

All these non- NRA, old, fat, white, racist, gun humping, murder enabling, ammosexual, delicate flowers won't put down their artificial penis is gather up some courage and get out and vote to repeal the Second Amendment?

[beardown]

6. Counterproductive reasoning on steroids

As your noted with your inclusion of a nice buffet of the daily insult menu, it's well known that the vast majority of gun owners are not members and a reasonable person (yeah, I know I just blew my whole premise here) would assume that a only a small minority of gun owners are 100 percent on board with the NRA. So why continually throw the NRA dittohead insult and NRA talking points against the very people that 1- have guns so they are a key target audience, 2- are not NRA groupies, and 3- are generally open to effective and reasonable gun control measures?

Ironically enough, most of my exposure to NRA talking points is from gun control folks around here. They aren't the only ones throwing insults around, but regardless of other assessments of who does the worst or most insulting, since the gun controllers are currently the ones trying to change the status quo, they have to convince the gun owners to change their stances and not the other way around.

[Eleanors38]

8. Excellent summation of the gun/controllers' problems.

It seems some of the controller/banners are doubling down on the Shame'Em Strategy©, and really have no intention of changing their ways; they are enjoying that "sweetest of moral pleasures" (Huxley attrib.) that always accompanies prohibitionist culture wars. No compromise, make-stink-on-the-carpet, self-centered, and really into Salem-style witch-hunting. You wou!d think they were working for the "other side."

They MUST keep their culture war relevant, and that requires unstinting support of a fading MSM, and elite-directed bans of opposing viewpoints within organizations of so-called progressives (the latter is a specific goal of controller banners, here). The real question is who (not what) they hate. We can get a flavor of their enemies in the drop trou & wade in cartoons they so favor: It is usually whole populations of European-descended men, a relatively safe target in liberal fora.

[DonP]

3. Do you Google "Wishful Thinking" for your stories now?

We used to think you just cut and pasted anything that might show a gun owner in a negative light.

Then we noticed that you didn't even bother to read them very well, since some of your posts showed the exact opposite of what you were trying to accomplish.

Now the stories have devolved to what people hope is happening.

This is the second or third story in the past couple of weeks about how "the NRA has faded/is fading/will fade/is bound to fade".

Interesting, if they weren't all interspersed with stories about how the evil NRA continues to block all gun control efforts.

[ileus]

4. well....guns kill people you know!

[DonP]

5. Statistically, I'm pretty sure 5 million is a pretty good sample size

Maybe somebody who recall their statistics course better than I do can calculate the sample size for a high confidence level sample.

With a Universe of 80 million US gun owners, how big of a sample would you need to get say a 95%, or even a 99%, confidence level of being representative?

I know a lot of the Polls being touted for one candidate or another on DU, have relatively small sample sizes, a few thousand at most. But they are embraced with passion, if they say the right thing.

So maybe that 5 million membership is more representative than some people want to believe or accept?

[sarisataka]

7. If you don't read the articles

you miss bits like this-

this silent majority has been locked out of the gun control debate, on the one hand by gun control advocates who paint gun owners in broad brushstrokes, and on the other by the more extreme elements within the NRA.

[Eleanors38]

9. Oh, my! You think? nt

[Eleanors38]

10. Uh-oh. I see sources from Gallup. And NRA. RW memes!!