NRA is being abandoned by white women and moderate Republicans, finds poll

People living in cities also less likely to hold favourable views of pro-gun group

The organisation's favourability is starting to turn negative in the wake of the high school shooting in Parkland, Florida (AFP/Getty)

For the first time in nearly two decades, Americans have turned against the National Rifle Association, according to a new poll.

It found that 40 per cent of people surveyed had a negative view of the NRA, while 37 per cent had a positive view.

That represented a significant drop from April 2017, when the same NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found a 45 per cent positive to 33 per cent negative divide.

It is the first time since at least 2000 that the poll registered a negative favourability rating for the gun owners’ group.

According to the survey, the biggest declines in support came from married white women, urban residents, white women in general and moderate Republicans.

The NBC/WSJ poll also matched other recent polling showing that the NRA’s favourability is starting to turn negative in the wake of its response to the high school shooting in Parkland, Florida.

An Economist/YouGov poll released in February found that for the first time in the poll’s tracking, “significantly more Americans express a negative opinion of the National Rifle Association than a positive one”.

Overall, 45 per cent of people surveyed held an unfavourable view of the NRA, while 36 per cent had a favourable view. That was a decline from October, when the NRA held a 40 per cent favourable to a 36 per cent unfavourable edge.

A Quinnipiac poll released on 20 February found that 38 per cent of respondents thought the NRA supports policies that are good for the US, while 51 per cent said the group supports policies that are bad for the US.

And a CNN poll released five days later found that 46 per cent of people held a favourable view of the NRA and 49 per cent held an unfavourable view.

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