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Data from a national random sample of gun owners (N = 605) were used to determine whether members of the National Rifle Association (NRA) are a representative sample of all gun owners and how well the NRA's lobbying positions on gun control reflect the views of its membership and of nonmember gun owners. No obvious demographic distinctions were identified between member and nonmember gun owners, but handgun owners (odds ratio [OR], 1.69; 95% 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% 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% 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% and 89%, respectively) and mandatory registration of handguns (59% and 75%).
The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is one of the nation's most active and influential lobby groups (Hrebenar & Scott, 1990; Isikoff, 1991; King, 1992; Wilson, 1981). Its principal stated purpose and objective are:
To protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, especially with reference to the inalienable right of the individual American citizen guaranteed by such Constitution to acquire, possess, transport, carry, transfer ownership of, and enjoy the right to use arms, in order that the people may always be in the position to exercise their legitimate individual rights of self-preservation and defense of family, person and property, as well as to serve effectively in the appropriate militia for the common defense of the republic and the individual liberty of its citizens (NRA, 1992).
The legislative and political arm of the NRA is the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA). The ILA was set up "as the front line of defense against anti-gun legislation" (NRA, 1992). The NRA opposes any licensing and registration of firearms and any waiting period for the purchase of firearms. In assuming these positions, NRA literature states that it is "representing the rights and wishes of not only our millions of members, but some 18 million licensed hunters and 65 million American gun owners as well" (NRA, 1992).
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