Have a Favorable Opinion of the NRA

The tragic events at Virginia Tech — and Friday’s anniversary of the April 20, 1999 Columbine High School tragedy — come at a time when recent surveys have found that Americans have become less supportive of gun control in recent years, and that more than half the public (52%) now expresses a favorable view of the National Rifle Association. A January Pew survey found, for the first time since 1994, that the favorability rating of the anti-gun-control advocacy group had crossed the 50% mark, although positive views of the NRA have been inching upward in Pew polls in recent years. Opinions of the NRA have improved among most demographic and political groups, but the organization has made its greatest gains among its traditional constituencies — men, whites and Republicans. Read More