Nearly six in 10 American adults believe citizen gun ownership does more to improve public safety because it allows law-abiding people to protect themselves in case of danger, according to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released Friday.

The March 10-14 survey found 58 percent of people think legal gun owners help make the country a safer place compared to 38 percent who think the chance for accidental misuse of firearms is connected to more people having them.

Over the past two decades since the 1999 Columbine massacre, the public's beliefs on gun ownership and safety have dramatically changed.

Back then, 52 percent of people said higher gun ownership levels correlated with lower levels of safety.

An estimated half a million people are expected to descend on Washington, D.C., Saturday for the "March for Our Lives" in commemoration of the 17 people killed in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in February. The march, which stemmed from students' calls for gun control reforms, will also press lawmakers to reform gun laws to prevent a future school shooting.

The telephone poll was conducted with 1,100 adults and had a 3 percentage point margin of error.