PPP Poll: Support For NRA Dropped After Sandy Hook Shooting

A new poll shows that in the three weeks after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., the popularity of the National Rifle Association began to drop.

Polls are mixed, however, on the NRA proposals for arming school officials and increasing the strength of gun control laws, according to The Hill.

Two surveys conducted by Public Policy Polling three weeks apart - one days after the elementary school massacre, and the other between Jan. 3 and 6 - show support from the gun advocacy organization dropped from 48 percent to 42 percent, while negative views of the group increased from 41 percent to 45 percent.

In its analysis, PPP suggests that the NRA proposal to place armed guards, or to arm teachers and administrators, has driven some of the new dissatisfaction with the NRA.

Participants in the PPP poll opposed the idea of armed guards 50 percent to 41 percent, and arming teachers was seen as a bad idea by 64 percent of respondents.

A Rasmussen Reports survey, however, found in a Jan. 2 poll that 54 percent of Americans would feel safer with armed individuals at their children’s schools, and that the percentage increased to 62 for parents of school-age children.