The National Rifle Association has taken some well deserved hits over its bungled response to the shootings in Newtown, Connecticut, but a new poll indicates that a majority of the public still views the organization positively:
More Americans have a favorable view of the National Rifle Association than unfavorable, according to a Gallup poll out Thursday that was conducted during the rollout of a new NRA proposal to have armed guard in every school.
According to the poll, 54 percent of respondents had a favorable opinion of the group, while 38 percent said they have an unfavorable opinion. Those numbers have fluctuated since Gallup first polled on the question in 1993, but the nation’s largest gun lobby has commanded a favorable opinion for most of that time — hitting a low of 42 percent in 1994 and a high of 60 percent in 2005.
Gallup said the poll, conducted Dec. 19-22, came the same time Wayne LaPierre, the NRA’s executive vice president, publicly advocated for placing guards with guns at every school as a response to the Newtown, Conn., massacre. LaPierre first announced that proposal at a press conference on Dec. 21.
Among other things, I’d suggest that this is a reflection of the fact that there remains strong support in the country for gun rights and that support for this issue is reflected in support for the organization as a whole. It also suggests that any debate over future gun legislation is going to be far different from the relative ease with which the Assault Weapons Ban was passed in 1994.
