The Myth: "74 percent of NRA Members Support a Ban on Assault Weapons."

The Lies: You’ve likely heard it reported several dozen times across news media outlets. Michael Bloomberg’s anti-gun group, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, claims responsibility for conducting this Frank Luntz poll that claims 74 percent of NRA Members support a ban on so-called assault weapons. Then President Obama mentioned this stat in his address in which he presented 23 executive orders on gun control.

The Facts: The NRA was founded in 1871 to train military men and civilians in the proper marksmanship of the military arm of the day, which now happens to be AR-style rifles, the civilian versions of the M16 that was adopted by the U.S. military in 1964. The NRA has legions of competitive shooters, enthusiasts, collectors and hunters who use these rifles. NRA’s flagship magazine, American Rifleman, contributes significant pages to AR rifles each month. Another magazine, Shooting Illustrated, is dedicated to these useful guns. Feedback and surveys indicate the magazines are well received by NRA membership. So, it’s difficult at best for me to believe this "poll,” one that happens to be sponsored by one of the most notorious and certainly the most well funded anti-gun group on the planet. In fact, I’m dialing the toll free 1-800-BullShooters hotline for immediate help.

The Real Poll: If there is any group that has its finger on the pulse of NRA members, it’s the NRA. After all, its membership rosters are private. To combat the Bloomberg nonsense, NRA, via a professional third-party polling company, recently conducted its own scientific poll of its members.

Findings are as follows:

91 percent of NRA members support laws keeping firearms away from the mentally ill.

92 percent of NRA members oppose gun confiscation via mandatory buy-back laws.

89 percent oppose banning semi-automatic firearms, often mistakenly called "assault rifles”.

93 percent oppose a law requiring gun owners to register with the federal government.

92 percent oppose a new federal law banning the sale of firearms between private citizens

That’s right. Bloomberg, Obama and the majority of the leftist media are off by 63 percentage points. Fact is, 89 percent of NRA members oppose banning assault rifles.

The Anti-BS Quote: "Mayor Bloomberg’s claims that gun owners are divided are totally false. It is nothing more than an attempt by anti-gun activists to further their long-standing political agenda,” said NRA-ILA Executive Director Chris Cox. "American gun owners and Second Amendment supporters are ready for Washington to put politics aside and come together to fix our broken mental health system.”

The Answer: When it comes to its Membership and about guns, Chris, the NRA and millions of law-abiding gun-owning Americans are the experts. Period.

The Lesson: Don’t trust the polls and the stats parroted by politicians and the mass media. Find them for yourself, for freedom can be found in the truth.