A majority of Americans believe the National Rifle Association has either too little influence over gun laws or the right amount of influence, according to a poll released on Thursday.
The Pew Research Center's Guns in America report found 15 percent believe the group has too little influence, 40 percent believe the group has the right amount of influence, and 44 percent believe the group has too much influence over gun laws. Those who identify themselves as NRA members in the poll were the most satisfied with the amount of influence the organization wields with 63 percent saying it has the right amount of influence, 28 percent saying it has too little, and 9 percent saying it has too much. Those who told Pew they don't own any guns viewed the NRA's influence less favorably with 50 percent saying the group has too much influence, 34 percent saying it has the right amount, and 14 percent saying it doesn't have enough.
19 percent of gun owners identified in the poll said they were currently members of the NRA. That's more than those who said they were members of a shooting club or gun range, at 13 percent, and more than those who said they were members of a hunting club, at 5 percent.
Republican gun owners and those who Pew considers Republican-leaning, at 24 percent, were more than twice as likely to be members of the NRA than Democrat gun owners and those Pew considers Democratic-leaning, at 11 percent. Gun owners considered to be conservative Republicans, at 28 percent, were even more likely to be NRA members than other Republicans, at 17 percent.
The same poll also found that gun owners are more likely to find fundamental freedoms essential than non-owners.