The NRA now has a negative favorability rating, with 42% of voters seeing it positively while 45% have an unfavorable view. That represents a 10 point net decline in the NRA’s favorability from the week before the press conference when a national poll we did found it at 48/41. Its image has taken a hit with both Democrats (from 29/59 to 22/67) and Republicans (71/19 to 66/18).
The NRA’s focus on putting more guns in schools is likely what’s driving the decline in the organization’s image. Only 41% of voters support the organization’s proposal to put armed police officers in schools across the country, with 50% opposed. Democrats (35/57) and independents (38/51) both oppose the push and even among Republicans only a narrow majority (52/39) supports it.
On the broader issue of giving teachers guns, only 27% of voters are supportive with 64% opposed.
The Obama Administration is talking about working with Wal-Mart to get them to adopt voluntary restrictions on gun purchasing. Ed Kilgore has more on that, with the usual concern that people will freak out because it’s evil Wal-Mart. I don’t think the Obama Administration is going to have to give much to Wal-Mart to have them adopt tougher gun selling procedures, because popular opinion is on Obama’s side, so why not have Wal-Mart with you when you go after the NRA?
jibeaux
Okay, now it’s just getting comical.
Napoleon
You should have Walmart on your side if you can.
By the way if any purity trolls show up on this issue, if face with the straight up choice of having X number of less bodies to be buried each year from guns vs. working with Walmart, what would you choose, because that is what we are talking about here.
Hal
I saw a rant on Facebook yesterday about how Obama was sidestepping congress to enact legislation to “take out guns away!”
How do you argue with people who do not even understand how the basic legislative process works, and who are so steeped in paranoia, which seems to be so common in so many gun owners today?
Marc
Speaking of which:
donnah
And the number of teachers who want to sign up for gun training outnumber the available spots. What’s up with that? I do not want the teacher of my children to carry or have access to a gun in the classroom.
I agree that the country and the administration needs to move now, while the NRA is seen for what it is, a corporate arms broker with no respect for human life. If Biden can work on it and Obama can back him up, there will be changes made, and hopefully not changes in name only.
Ash Can
52-39 is a “narrow majority”?
dmsilev
@jibeaux: My theory is that the pollsters are now aware of the Crazification Factor, and every time a question comes back with 25 or 28 percent support, they round it off to 27%.
peach flavored shampoo
Assholes doing asshole-ish things aren’t helping the asshole image of the assholes in the NRA.
Jamey
@jibeaux: Was just gonna say that now someone’s just fucking with us…
liberal
OT:
Emma
@dmsilev: Great minds… either that or there’s a God and he’s screwing with our minds.
Cassidy
@peach flavored shampoo: Good. They sould keep it up. Walking around neighborhoods with assault rifles really should raise awareness.
dmsilev
@liberal: But a birth certificate isn’t proof or disproof of that particular allegation. Trump would need to submit a genetic analysis showing that he’s human. And preferably a separate analysis of his hair to prove that it’s not a mangy weasel.
scav
@peach flavored shampoo: Don’t you wish they’d done it in a stand your ground state or near the cops that tasered a blind man after mistaking his cane for a samuri sword (ok, latter UK, but still).
Mark S.
@Ash Can:
Yeah, I noticed that too.
I realize it isn’t a serious proposal, but has anyone run the numbers on putting armed cops in every fucking school across the country? There are almost 100,000 schools in the country, so you’re either going to have to hire a bunch new cops or take some off the streets. Or maybe we’ll just hire Blackwater to do it, and probably give them legal immunity for anyone they kill.
Shit, I meant that as a joke but it’s too damn plausible.
Tokyokie
@liberal: To which Maher should reply, “I want to see the long form.”
Face
Only? Only? Why isn’t the tease “An incredibly insane 41%…”?
the Conster
So one in every four people encountered every day is a certifiable nutjob, and they’re probably loaded up with guns. Awesome.
Punchy
You’re referring to the House GOP, right?
scav
@Tokyokie: given the election’s safely over, Trump’s probably just desperate for some (any) media attention. Might even be more fun to just quietly fork over the cash and say “See? Isn’t that easy?”
Mark S.
Oscar noms are out. Haven’t seen any of them.
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
@scav: Maher needs to drag it out a bit: “I didn’t think birth certificates counted. What else do you have?”
MikeJ
@Mark S.: Django was incredible. Like most Tarentino it would probably be better with a half hour edited out, but still very worthwhile. I find it particularly amusing that our friends on the right say the reason why it’s such a horrible movie is that the the word “nigger” is used. Imagine! Slave traders using an offensive word!
jibeaux
@Mark S.: Tried to see Silver Linings Playbook but the damn indy theater only took cash and we pretty much never have $20 between us. It’s 2013, hipster theater! /fist shake
liberal
@Tokyokie:
Yeah, no sh!t.
Anya
I wonder what Joe Scarborough’s 9-year old daughter will learn about his treatment of Mika? Here (“Morning Joe” Co-Hosts Clash Over Lack Of Women In Obama Administration (VIDEO)) he is yelling about white men dominated Obama Admin on his white men dominated show. Why does Mika take this treatment?
scav
@Belafon (formerly anonevent): opinions may vary. given that Maher probably needs the publicity too, no doubt that’s what’ll happen as it’s all about the hits. But I’m personally weary of the screaming toddlers in super-surround-stereo, so thought it would make for an unexpected change of pace.
japa21
@Ash Can: Well, since 52% is just over the majority level at 52-48, I guess it could be called a narrow majority. It is, however, a large plurality of those actually voicing an opinion.
liberal
@dmsilev:
Doubt he’s even in the animal kingdom. Let’s see…pond scum…
Anya
@Face: My feeling exactly. Those numbers are actually depressing to me. I guess the republicans view the NRA as a partisan organization so they just feel obligated to support it.
PeakVT
@Anya: A better question is why does MSNBC employ Scarborough?
scav
@scav: ah, although I missed the orangutan detail. That does require additional kicking and other forms of proof.
Mark S.
@jibeaux:
I’ve never heard of that movie. Never heard of Amour either.
jibeaux
@Mark S.: That’s because it’s only at the kind of theaters who only take cash and run Rocky Horror Picture Show twice a week year-round.
GregB
If only Randy Weaver and David Koresh had been armed they could have fought off the oppressive government.
First Amendment forevah!
The Red Pen
The Freepers were fuming over WalMart’s treachery and pledging not to shop there.
Several of them declared that they already hated WalMart and wouldn’t shop there except that it’s so damned convenient.
You know they can’t quit WalMart and so does WalMart.
David in NY
“[F]reedom is not a handgun on the hip of every teacher.” Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy.
maurinsky
I was at a meeting of municipal leaders yesterday, and there was discussion about Newtown and having armed guards in every school, and one town manager said it’s irrational, because kids are more likely to get injured or killed in the cars they ride to school in. Which is true. I am a parent, and I think that schools should follow some best practices for security, but the next mass shooting will be in some other location, and we can’t keep ignoring the role guns play in these mass shootings – we just can’t.
The same town manager also mentioned that he would like to see the whole discussion bring in the values we would like to live with – he said he was in Spain when there was a terrorist attack and he was in the wrong place and had a bunch of soldiers pointing weapons at him, and he really didn’t want to recreate that in America.
sb
Well, I’m a teacher. I love my colleagues and would quite literally take a bullet for them as well as my students.
I wouldn’t trust any of them with a gun on campus. And I’ll add my voice to others saying that I don’t want my son in a classroom with a teacher who is armed.
The Moar You Know
I consider the “crazification factor” to have been proven at this point.
Todd
@Hal:
Had an animated conversation with a couple of lawyers in the lawyer lounge today. They’re both older (in their 60s), claim to be “libertarians”, but neither has found a conservatard they couldn’t enthusiastically support.
They had some spirited objections to my characterization of a broad spectrum of camo wearing, tobacco-chawing, hoverround riding hoarders of firearms as gun fags too cowardly to face normal life interactiosn without walking around strapped. Seems they have high opinions of the manly manliness of white guys walking (or rolling) around while packing. They seemed surprised that a firearm owner of my ethnicity and age would hold Real ‘Murkins in such contempt.
One of them will not be speaking with me again. No loss.
Randy P
@Mark S.: I heard of it in a NY Times review. Surprisingly, it has shown up at some of the megaplexes around here (one owned by UA and another one owned by Regal), not just the art houses downtown.
If you get a chance, catch the Oscar Nominated Shorts which are distributed to theaters as packages in February. We usually watch the animated shorts and the live-action shorts as a double feature. Great original voices from independent studios around the world. The documentaries are also released this way but I’ve never figured out how to see them. I don’t think any of these packages make it to Netflix or Amazon.
jp7505a
The NRA position is that it takes a good guy with a gun to stop a bad guy with a gun. There is an article over on Huffington today about a guy by the name of Ratliff. He pushed highpowered rifles on the internet. He was also famous for the tweet that when he went to the movies with a handgun, he hoped for a batman incident to occur. I guess he is one of the good guys the NRA is talking about.
Well it seems ‘Batman’ stopped by his store for a visit and shot him dead. The good guy, surrounded by his guns, could not protect himself from the bad guy. The cops have no motive or suspects at this time
I don’t mean to make light of his death since there is a 2 year old who will grow up not knowning his father, but there are a lot of kids growing up who won’t know a parent or sibling because of the gun culture that this man represented.
The old cliche – live by the sword die by the sword. Rather ironic
Culture of Truth
Ed Kilgore has more on that, with the usual concern that people will freak out because it’s evil Wal-Mart.
He should work with the non-evil ones who don’t sell guns?
Paul in KY
@liberal: He didn’t shake hands on the deal (a manly 5 finger shake).
Trump is such a sucker!
Paul in KY
@jp7505a: A cowardly POS can shoot you in the back of the head whether or not you are armed to the teeth.
Maybe if Mr. Ratliff had been more paranoid, he wouldn’t have been murdered.
socraticsilence
@Napoleon:
They chose 10,000s of dead bodies over working with Big Pharma- less dramatically dead but dead just the same.
AHH onna Droid
@MikeJ: Yeah, but putting it on signs and advertisements was a bit much. Usually in original sources you would see that term in satirical newspaper cartoons. Mark Twain, od course, was writing in dialect, which bucked the typical pulp standards of the time, all flowery language and euphamism. Another anachronism is that 19th century rhetoric, thick with sentimental emotional appeals, is missing. Which is just as well. I wish Tarantino had taken the time to use more accurate language, perhaps showing the great variety of terms used for blacks, from the neutral to the highly pejorative. Overusing the n-word deprived it of some of its bite even as the film lavishes screentime on detailing Django’s caste status to a modern audience.
BruinKid
And now the Tactical Response CEO has threatened to start murdering innocent people if Obama implements any kind of gun control.