Over 92 percent of NRA members oppose criminalizing private gun sales via universal background checks.

This news runs counter to the myriad leftist claims that the NRA overwhelmingly supports the same draconian gun controls currently being pushed by House Democrats.

Writing in Ammoland, former NRA president Marion Hammer explains that the the views of NRA members are actually 180 degrees removed from those of the House Democrats and their surrogates in gun control groups around the country.

For example, Hammer notes that “over 92 percent [of NRA members] oppose background checks on sales between private citizens.”

Such opposition is based on the fact that nearly every mass shooter / high profile attacker of the 21st century acquired their guns via background checks. The exceptions are those who stole their guns. Therefore, requiring background checks on private sales would do little more than criminalize a friend selling a gun to a lifelong friend or a neighbor selling a gun to someone by whom he has lived for decades.

Hammer also explains that “89 percent [of NRA members] oppose banning so-called “assault weapons” and “93 percent oppose gun registration.”

Democrats in the House are currently pushing universal background checks, which will require gun registration in order to be enforceable. And Democrats in the Senate are currently push a ban on “assault weapons.”

These pushes do not reflect the values or desires of NRA members.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.