Poll: More view NRA negatively than positively for first time since before 2000

More people view the National Rifle Association (NRA) negatively than positively, according to a new poll.

An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finds 40 percent of respondents view the NRA negatively, compared with 37 percent who view the organization positively.

This represents the first time since before 2000 that more people have viewed the NRA in a negative light than in a positive light in the poll. 

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It also reflects a stark change since the question was asked in an April 2017 poll. In that poll, 45 percent of respondents said they viewed the NRA positively and 33 percent said they viewed the organization negatively.

The recent survey was conducted from March 10-14 among 1,100 adults. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.95 percentage points.

The poll comes about one month after a gunman opened fire at a high school in Parkland, Fla., killing 17 people.

Since the shooting, a number of student survivors have gone after the NRA and criticized lawmakers who have accepted money from the organization.

During last week’s national day of school walkouts to protest gun violence, the NRA shared a photo of a gun with the caption: “I’ll control my own guns, thank you.”

Earlier this week, David Hogg, a student who survived the Florida school shooting, said the NRA had “basically threatened” the students since they started speaking out about gun violence.

Since the Florida school shooting, gun control has become a central issue, with students demanding that lawmakers pass new laws to keep their schools safe and planning a march to protest gun violence in Washington on March 24.

The Trump administration earlier this month unveiled a series of proposals on school safety and gun restrictions, including a push for states to provide firearms training for school staff members.

Congress is considering attaching a narrow background check bill for gun purchases to a must-pass government funding package before the end of the week.