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For the record, I am a gun owner who is in favor of increased gun control. I do not look at the government as my enemy and I do not fear a totalitarian dictator usurping the Presidency, as the NRA and its allies would have me believe.
It turns out I am not alone. Time has reported on a recent poll that shows how far the NRA’s position truly is from that of ordinary gun owners:
Dig deeper into the data, however, and an odd picture emerges: gun-toting Americans are not aware that they are closer to Barack Obama than the NRA on the gun control debate. In American gun households, 52% support a ban on assault weapons and 91% support background checks for all gun buyers. A sizable minority, 45%, also support a ban on the sale of high capacity magazines. All of these positions NRA chief Wayne LaPierre has rebuffed in the gun control debate over the past month, yet 62% of Americans in these gun households believe that the NRA better reflects their views on guns than President Obama.
There is a huge amount of middle ground that polling shows we agree on. Don’t let talk radio DJs and survivalists preparing for the apocalypse convince you that gun control advocates want to usher in the Fourth Reich.
