The NRA: The Myth of the Money Monster

Ever try to persuade a friend to take action on gun control? Far too often, you'll  hear that all is lost, and that our Voldemort, doing business as the National Rifle Association, rules the world with insurmountable mountains of cash and power. Folks offer the usual litany of excuses for their apathy:

Letters < Money (Sadly)

If there is no check they will ignore you 

If we didn't get action after Newtown we never will

These quotes are real, from my online hustings, and one of them comes from a leader in the progressive online community.

The NRA is indeed a wealthy and established lobby nationally, but before our grassroots unilaterally disarm we might want to take a hard, iconoclastic look at the facts.

Consider Barney Frank. Representative Frank’s District encompassed a great deal of white, working class turf. For much of his career, over 50% of his constituents supported gun rights. Frank supported gun control, and he nevertheless managed to stay in office for over 30 years.

In his biography, Frank, he writes: I have never seen an NRA public demonstration. They do not have marches…liberals who try to comfort themselves with the notion that NRA wins legislative battles because of their vast campaign contributions are engaged in self-deception and self-justification. The NRA wins at the ballot box, not in the streets and not by the checkbook…They urge all of their adherents to get on the voting rolls. They are diligent to the point of obsession in making sure that elected officials hear from everyone in their constituencies who oppose any limits on guns, especially when a relevant measure is being considered, and they then do an extraordinary job of informing their supporters of how those officials cast their votes.

Let’s now look at the NRA’s money. Tracking political money is always a bit of a headache, but data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics helps untangle the thicket of campaign finance reports. The NRA is a hydra-headed beast, and it is not the only group spending money to keep us awash in firearms. The major players are as follows:

       * The NRA (C4): This is the group that takes individual donations and issues the membership cards. Ask your evil uncle what’s in his wallet and he’ll show one to you. The NRA runs a Political Action Committee (PAC), the NRA Political Victory Fund, which pours money into federal Congressional races.

        *The NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund (C3): The lawyers. These folks provide pro bono work on litigation that might, eventually, shape the federal courts' interpretation of gun laws and gun regulation. At any given time, these folks are assisting in legal cases in upwards of 30 states.

           *The NRA Institute for Legislative Action:  Rather like the conservative ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council), this group keeps an eye on state laws. This is where the lobbyists live.

*The NRA Foundation: This is a non profit 501(C)(3) that gives money to a host of sportsmen organizations, and groups as diverse as the 4H and the Boy Scouts. They encourage the recreational use of firearms.

*Other pro-gun groups not affiliated with the NRA: The National Association for Gun Rights, Safari Club International, Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, Gun Owners of America, Dallas Safari Club, the Boone and Crockett Club, and the National Shooting Sports Foundation.

Now, let’s look at the NRA’s opponents:

        *Americans for Responsible Solutions: ARS is a Political Action Committee (PAC) founded by former Representative Gabby Giffords after she survived an assassination attempt in a Tucson parking lot.

      * Independence, USA: A PAC founded by former New York City Mayor, Michel Bloomberg.

      * Everytown for Gun Safety: Another Bloomberg group that focuses on legislation, often at the city or state level.

      * Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence: A group founded after the assassination attempt on President Reagan.

*Other gun control groups: These include Sandy Hook Promise, the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, and Americans for the Protection of Children.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

Political money comes in three flavors.

         Independent Expenditure Campaigns:  This is money spent for or against a candidate by an outside organization. The organization can knock on doors, make phone calls, send mail and run television or other media ads for or against a candidate. The outside group may not, however, coordinate directly with the actual  campaign. If you see an ad on television that ends with “sponsored by the NRA” or “paid for by the Brady Campaign”, it’s part of an Independent Expenditure.

       Direct Contribution: These funds are in the form of direct contributions to candidate’s campaign war chests—the NRA writing a check to Mitch McConnell’s campaign, for example.

       Legislative Lobbying: Money spent in lobbying Congress or Federal agencies.

2014 Spending: Gun Advocates and Gun Control Groups:

Group Type	Spending Type	2014 Total
Pro-Gun Rights	Independent Campaign	$28.6 million
Gun Control	Independent Campaign	$13.6 million
Pro-Gun Rights	Direct  Conbribution	$2.1 million
Gun Control	Direct Contribution	$400,000
Pro-Gun Rights	Lobbying	$9.2 million
Gun Control	Lobbying	$1.3 million

So, in 2014, pro gun groups spent $39.9 million in campaigns and lobbying while gun control groups spent $15.3 million. The gun control groups, while outspent well over two to one, are gradually closing the spending gap over time.

For comparison, let us now look at spending by top environmental organizations. Next Gen Climate Change is a San Francisco based group founded by liberal billionaire Tom Steyer. The League of Conservation Voters is best known for its scorecard, which grades members of Congress on their environmental voting records. The Sierra Club is one of the nation’s oldest environmental advocates. These groups aren’t the only outside organizations spending on federal elections for environmental advocacy, but they are three of the largest.

2014 Spending: Leading Environmental Groups

Group Type	Spending Type	2014 Total
Next Gen Climate Change	Independent Campaign	$19.5 million
League of Conservation Voters	Independent Campaign	$19.1 million
Sierra Club	Independent Campaign	$1.6 million
Next Gen Climate Change	Direct Contribution	$0
League of Conservation Voters	Direct Contribution	$4.9 million
Sierra Club	Direct Contribution	$4.3 million

Compare the spending to just a few leading environmental groups to that of all the pro-gun groups:

2014 Spending: Guns Versus Greens

Group Type	Spending Type	2014 Total
Pro Gun	Independent Campaign	$28.6 million
Pro Environment	Independent Campaign	$40.2 million
Pro Gun	Direct Contribution	$2.1 million
Pro Environment	Direct Contribution	$9.2 million

So, while gun groups threw $30.7 million at Congressional candidates, the top few environmental groups spent $50.1 million. So, if money is all that matters, why isn’t Congress teeming with environmentalists eager to pass tough climate change legislation?

Answer: Money doesn’t matter as much in the real world as it does in the popular imagination. Barney Frank is right.

This becomes clearer when looking at this money in a larger perspective. Americans spent more money in the 2014 midterm election than the total spent in the 2004 Presidential Election, a whopping $3.7 billion (that’s just on campaigns, not on lobbying). So, while gun money seems huge as an isolated figure, the total pro gun expenditures on Independent Campaigns and Direct Contributions comprised roughly 8 tenths of 1 percent of total campaign spending in 2014!

The NRA wins and we lose because they know how to lobby. The NRA wins and we lose because they know how to engage their members. The NRA wins and we lose because NRA members never say things like:

Letters < Money (Sadly)

If there is no check they will ignore you 

If we didn't get action after Newtown we never will

So, what can YOU do?

       Set up a VISIT with your Senators and Representatives if they oppose reasonable gun control legislation. They see NRA members regularly, but they seldom see us. Round up your friends and go as a group.

        Help close the spending gap between the NRA and the gun control groups. Make a donation. Everytown for Gun Safety is doing excellent work, passing local gun control legislation that has legs. Americans For Responsible Solutions is a savvy PAC, that helps ameliorate NRA money in individual races.NRA fills its coffers with contributions from working and middle class Americans. We could out-fundraise them easily, if we would only bother to try.

       Share this blog link with your naysayer friends. The NRA wins with grassroots support. We lose without it.

       Quit whimpering and gear up for a long term fight. Nearly nine years passed between the day Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus and the passage of the Civil Rights Act. 

       Call your county and state Republican Party offices. Tell them you are an independent thinker and you focus on candidate qualifications when casting your vote, but you will not vote for candidates who are in bed with the NRA.

       Every time you see a post on Facebook supporting gun control, tell them to take REAL action. Venting steam on Facebook is slactivism. Its sound and fury, signifying nothing. 

       Deal with online trolls effectively. Don’t argue with them,  just say, “Wow, you are so insane I’ve decided to give a check to a gun control group in the amount of $25 dedicated to you.”

  

       Round up a dozen friends and attend the Town Meetings hosted by your Congressman. Get the name of the staff member assigned to the gun issue. After EVERY mass shooting, call that staffer.

By doing nothing, you meet the Monster every day when you gaze into your bathroom mirror.  In the time it takes to post a couple of angry messages on Facebook, you could donate $25 bucks to Everytown, or pick up a phone and leave a message for a staffer. Don’t get mad, get busy.