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I Am the NRA (National Rifle Association): An Analysis of a National Random Sample of Gun Owners

NCJ Number
149347
Journal
Violence and Victims Volume: 8 Issue: 4 Dated: (Winter 1993) Pages: 367-376
Author(s)
D S Weil; D Hemenway
Date Published
1993
Length
10 pages
Annotation
Data from a national random sample of gun owners (n=605) 18 years old and older were used to determine whether members of the National Rifle Association (NRA) were a representative sample of all gun owners and how well the NRA's lobbying positions on gun control reflected the views of its membership and of nonmember gun owners.
Abstract
The telephone survey was conducted December 15-22, 1989. No obvious demographic distinctions were identified between member and nonmember gun owners, but handgun owners (odds ratio[OR], 1.69; 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.19 to 2.39) and individuals who owned six or more guns as opposed to just one gun (OR, 1.95; 95 percent CI, 1.22 to 3.10) were more likely to belong to the NRA. Nonmembers were more supportive of specific proposals to regulate gun ownership (OR, 1.82; 95 percent CI, 1.14 to 2.91), but a majority of both member and nonmember gun owners favored a waiting period for the purchase of a handgun (77 percent and 89 percent, respectively) and mandatory registration of handguns (59 percent and 75 percent). Table 3 and 26 references