NRA represents gun manufacturers — period

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49. Here's what many NRA members feel ...

July 25, 2012 11:00 AM
Luntz Poll: NRA Membership Supports Gun Sensible Control

By Susie Madrak

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87 percent of NRA members agree that support for 2nd Amendment rights goes hand-in-hand with keeping guns out of the hands of criminals.

There is very strong support for criminal background checks:
74 percent support requiring criminal background checks of anyone purchasing a gun.
79 percent support requiring gun retailers to perform background checks on all employees – a measure recently endorsed by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the trade association for the firearms industry.

NRA members strongly support allowing states to set basic eligibility requirements for people who want to carry concealed, loaded guns in public places. By contrast, the NRA leadership’s top federal legislative priority – national reciprocity for concealed carry permits – would effectively eliminate these requirements by forcing every state to allow non-residents to carry concealed guns even if they would not qualify for a local permit.

NRA members support many common state eligibility rules for concealed carrying:
75 percent believe concealed carry permits should only be granted to applicants who have not committed any violent misdemeanors, including assault.
74 percent believe permits should only be granted to applicants who have completed gun safety training.
68 percent believe permits should only be granted to applicants who do not have prior arrests for domestic violence.
63 percent believe permits should only be granted to applicants 21 years of age or older.

http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/luntz-poll-nra-membership-supports-gu

Note: The entire article is a worthwhile read.

After long consideration, I personally am not fond of national reciprocity for concealed carry permits as I feel that should be up to the individual states. Allowing the Federal government to have any control might lead to draconian regulations. I should note that as a Florida resident with a Concealed Weapons Permit I can legally carry a concealed firearm in 35 states as long as I abide with certain restrictions. For example in Florida, I can carry a concealed stun gun, knife, or billy club but that would be against the law for me in some states. (source: http://licgweb.doacs.state.fl.us/news/concealed_carry.html)

I don't seriously believe that the NRA wants to do away with all gun laws. The organization does definitely oppose some existing laws in some states and hopes to change them, but it also favors better enforcement of many existing laws.

I believe that both sides of the gun control issue might find common ground and the ability to compromise. First we both need to stop hating each other. That's why I always do my best to be polite when discussing gun control with those who disagree with my views. We often squabble and bicker like unsupervised children in a playground and that accomplishes absolutely nothing.