I love that 9% are in favor of arming the insane.

I want to hear more about how their new mental health care program would work. Is it going to be modeled on the UK's National Health Service? I dunno. Enlighten me, somebody.

The survey also reported that 82.3% favor the "NRA's recently proposed a new program to put qualified armed security professionals in every school". That's every school. And they're professionals, not volunteers. So we're talking about increasing the size of the Department of Homeland Security by one fifth, again. To they mean every school? Because it's more than a fifth if they're going to put cops in private schools.

And some campuses are large. And what about weekends, and long hours? Probably be more like a increasing DHS by half.

Cool beans. Whose going to pay for that? And why does the NRA want so many more Federal agents on the payroll?

Also. No question on doing a better job of enforcing existing law. That's always a major talking point. Does the NRA membership support enforcing existing law, or do they support the NRA's policy of hindering law enforcement?

Interesting survey. Lots of comedy gold buried in there -- haven't even begun to dig.

NRA membership =~4.2 million people. Who cares what 98% of 1.3% of the US population thinks? Depending on who you ask, 60% of the entire US population favors an assault weapon ban.

@1 hey, they have to look out for themselves, right?

The only reason to ask that question—do you think the government should seize all guns?—and promote their reply is if NRA members believe that an actual, potentially real, not-a-parody-of-itself-but-totally-genuine policy is on the horizon to do that.

What? That's quite a leap Dominic.

They can't simply be asking a question? It must have a diabolical, secret meaning behind it?

I'll remember that every time you guys post another slog poll. You believe that whatever you're polling about is going to turn into an actual, potentially real, not-a-parody-of-itself-but-totally-genuine policy.

The more they buy in to these "Government is coming to take all my guns" fallacies, the more credibility they lose. for the first time, I'm starting to hear actual gun owners talk about how the NRA is full of crap. I've never heard that before.

@1: please don't conflate "mentally ill" and "insane." Many people suffer from mental illness and are not "insane."

Not that they should necessarily be armed.

Why isn't there a poll attached to this past asking how many SLOG readers support a total ban and confiscation of all guns?

I'd really be interested to see that poll.

Certain areas of criminal justice are already seeing increases in civil commitment well beyond criminal convictions, based on vague standards, and it's worrisome because the mentally ill viewed as a whole do not seem more violence-prone than the general population in statistical terms.

Best thing, as we ease into implementation of the Affordable Care Act in a meaningful way (fucking finally), would be to play the NRA and their co-conspirators in Congress for maximum support of mental-health benefits (talk therapy, medications, rehab, the whole megillah) in both employer-provided and private-purchase (through exchanges) health insurance, based on the NRA's attempt to blame all run-amok shootings on the improperly neglected mentally ill rather than lax firearm licensing/tracking. Do that while improving licensing/training/background checks, and, mirabile dictu, you'll see the incidence of accidental shootings decline.

Apparently no one wants to talk about the obvious: 8% of NRA MEMBERS want all guns confiscated...

That right there is practically a push poll.

8% of NRA members don't know what the word "confiscate" means.

As a liberallifetime NRA member and a liberal, I'm happy to say the NRA is full of shit on many of their positions.

I also have to say that many of their so-called positions are distortions via ignrance or flat-out lies by those with a visceral hatred of guns.

It's true that the NRA's messaging sucks and they prey on weak-minded right wingers as shamelessly as FOX News but, for someone like me, they're the only game in town when it comes to protecting my rights from those who do want total confiscation, like many here on the SLOG.

As a liberal city dweller it's a shitty deal, but I see no alternative, so I hold my nose and send them my money, my vote and write letters to my elected officials.

Edit:

Iiberallifetime? WTF?

I wrote my post from my phone...

The NRA must be secretly loving this. They're basically an industry lobby, and gun sales are the highest they've ever been right now.

The other 8 percent probably said "I hope they pass the law, it will give me an excuse to shoot them."

@3
"Who cares what 98% of 1.3% of the US population thinks?"

Politicians.
Because that 1.3% is practically guaranteed to be the first to vote in every election.

Motherfuckers aren't even consistent about their libertarianism.

So they're overwhelmingly in favor of laws keeping firearms away from the mentally ill, which would constitute a federal definition of mental illness presumably accompanied by a registry, so that it would come up on a background check. (We're also presumably repealing or weakening medical record confidentiality laws.)

What's to stop the big bad government from declaring you crazy and taking your guns?

Dudes are so eager to find a boogieman to blame for the gun problem they even short-circuit their own paranoia

@13

Have you noticed that no actual liberals begin every comment with "as a liberal..."? Ever wonder why you're the only one?

So, as a "liberal" do you recall which year it was that you clued into the fact that the NRA was full of shit? And why, as a "liberal", did you send them $1000?

As a "liberal", how did you feel, 30 years ago, when the NRA pushed through a law limiting unannounced ATF inspections to gun dealers to no more than one per year? Along with a host of other rules designed to hobble law enforcement?

How many other "liberals" do you know whose only actual political cause is unrestricted gun sales?

Dominic,
"The only reason to ask that question—do you think the government should seize all guns?—and promote their reply is if NRA members believe that an actual, potentially real, not-a-parody-of-itself-but-totally-genuine policy is on the horizon to do that."

I suggest that you read some of the comments in these forums.
Or just do what #8 said and run a poll asking how many of your readers would be in favor of a complete ban on guns.

I'm gonna agree with Dom and assert that yes, NRA members (not all, but enough) do believe that they are a slim heartbeat away from the moment when the Gub'mint gonna come take all their guns away.

Source: A statistically invalid sample of one. The Future Mrs. Dr. Awesome's brother's facebook page (I see you rolling your eyes already, but bear with me). Since the Sandy Hook shootings he's posted one or two picture-meme thingys every day noting that bad things always happen when the Gub'mint tries to take your guns away. For example, the reason for the Indian massacre at the Battle of Little Bighorn was that the Gub'mint initiated it by trying to take away the guns from the Indians. And of course, Hitler took everyone's guns away, and see what happened there?

Otherwise he links to utterly looney sites such as Alex Jones's Prison Planet, with all the looney conspiracy theories about the Gub'mint coming to take away your guns.

But he's not just an irrelevant outlier in his thinking. All his rural buddies click 'like' on his posts, and he does the same for their urgent posts about the Gub'mint comin' to take yer guns. Meaning he is not alone out there, many, many others share his thinking.

Future Bro-in-Law asserted to me nearly four years ago that Obama could sign an executive order any second now that would make all his guns and accessories illegal. And the fact that four-plus years have gone by without that happening tells us that that has no chance of happening, but to him it means the opposite. The more time passes without all guns being banned, the more certain he is that the day will come that all guns will be banned. Critical thinking, if you haven't already guessed, is not his strong suit.

He sure appears to me to be the classic NRA member who is whipped into a frenzy by their scare tactics and push-polls into believing that all guns could be banned any day now.

As a liberal, the Slog's gun coverage is a crock of shit, half-assed, biased attempt to dishonestly manipulate their readers.

@22 'dishonestly'? Nah.

The next time someone tells you that cars kill more people than guns remind them that you have to take a more extensive test, both written and practical, to get a license to drive which you MUST have in order to be able to buy a car. You must register that car every year and notify the government when you sell it. You must carry insurance on that car and the government controls where, when, and how you can operate that car, how many cars you can own and what kind of cars car companies can sell you.

So yeah, I want the kind of control we have with cars placed on guns because without them the number of deaths by car would be infinitely higher.

@19

As a liberal I suggest you go fuck yourself.

@13, Who exactly is trying to take your guns away that you feel you need the NRA to protect yourself from? Nobody is making any sort of push for confiscation and that's not because of lobbying by the NRA, that's because most people realize that's not a realistic solution. You don't need the NRA's insane lobbying to protect your guns.

@25

Oooh. I just thought of another question. How many actual liberals are you friends with? And what do they have to say about your "liberalism", as you call it?

It's just that you constantly bring it up. You could just post your pro-gun opinions, but you've made it very, very clear that you want everyone to know what a liberal you are. You've made it a big deal and so naturally there will be questions asked.

The mandatory buyback program those 8% are referring to would be for newly classified "assault weapons" if such a ban were passed. It does not mean "should the goverment buyback ALL weapons". It just goes to show that we NRA members DO have our own opinions and are free within this organization to speak.
Yes I am a member of the NRA, and resorting to name calling does not help get your point across, it makes me dismiss you as soon as you call me mentally ill.
Well informed rational dialoge and discourse will get us all closer to a solution.

The mandatory buyback program those 8% are referring to would be for newly classified "assault weapons" if such a ban were passed. It does not mean "should the goverment buyback ALL weapons". It just goes to show that we NRA members DO have our own opinions and are free within this organization to speak.
Yes I am a member of the NRA, and resorting to name calling does not help get your point across, it makes me dismiss you as soon as you call me mentally ill.
Well informed rational dialoge and discourse will get us all closer to a solution.

@13. Senator Feinsteins proposal is to not allow certain guns to be sold or transfered. Meaning my some of my fathers guns wiil be taken away from his heirs when he dies. THAT is confiscation. Others, such ad New York legislature are floating the idea of mandatory buybacks. I am hearing people talk about it - thats why I fear it.