Source of article The Jury Room - Keene Trial Consulting.
In voir dire and jury selection, seemingly small differences can help you make decisions that are good for your case facts. Recently, the Pew Research Center put out a survey showing that gun owners who are also NRA members have a “unique set of views and experiences”. Pew says something we love—and that we’ve said for decades—demographics don’t really help to choose a jury.
“While the demographic profile of NRA members is similar to that of other gun owners, their political views, the way they use their firearms, and their attitudes about gun policy differ significantly from gun owners who are not members of the organization”.
So what are the ways in which NRA gun owners appear to differ and that you can perhaps use to winnow down to the values and beliefs and attitudes that potentially make a difference? Read on.
NRA members skew more heavily to the political right than other gun owners.
Gun owners who belong to the NRA own more guns (the report says five more) than those who do not belong to the NRA (the report says perhaps just one).
NRA members are more likely to carry a gun with them outside their house all or most of the time.
Nearly half of NRA members say owning a gun is “very important” to their overall identity while only 20% of non-NRA-members say the same.
NRA members are more likely to say that owning a gun is essential to their personal freedom (92%) than non-NRA members (70%).
NRA members are more likely to contact a public official about a gun policy (46%) than are non-NRA members (15%).
The full report explores the political affiliations of NRA members and non-members and looks into some of the differences between and within the political groups of NRA members and non-members. Depending on your case facts, some of these differences may be useful to you in voir dire. Regardless, if your case facts involve guns—this is a must read for trial.
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