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What the NRA's Millions Do—and Don't—Buy

Big money isn't the only secret to the National Rifle Association's success. Yet is it the key to defeating it?

By Alan Berlow and Gordon Witkin, Center for Public Integrity
| Wed May. 1, 2013 6:00 AM PDT


NRA president David Keene (left) watches as executive vice president
Wayne LaPierre testifies before the Senate in January. Fang Zhe/Xinhua/Zuma

.. it's very long .. two bits from the first page
________________________

"The issue is not so much how much the NRA gives any senator or
member of the House, it's how they can make their lives miserable."
________________________

and

________________________

If Bloomberg is serious about staying in this game, he will make a
difference. Says NRA president David Keene, "We can't outspend Bloomberg."
________________________
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/05/nra-national-rifle-association-money-influence

.. one bit from page two ..

Among the 42 Republicans who voted against stronger background checks, 40 are rated A or A+ by the NRA, meaning they virtually always vote with the NRA. Among the 41 Democrats who voted in favor of stronger background checks, 35 received ratings of D or F from the gun organization.

Gregg Lee Carter, .. http://web.bryant.edu/~gcarter/bio/bio.html .. a professor of sociology at Bryant College in Rhode Island and the editor of Guns in American Society, generally agrees with Keene's view on the role of money, although he states the case differently. "The issue is not so much how much the NRA gives any senator or member of the House, it's how they can make their lives miserable. And how they make their lives miserable is they e-mail 'em, they call 'em, they fax 'em, they show up at meetings. The typical person who is for gun control is very different from the [pro-gun] person calling you or being right there, being an annoyance, hassling you personally. They're much more activist than the other side and that's what really produces their gains."

Yet when it comes to campaign contributions, Carter says that the amount contributed by the NRA is most often a minuscule percentage of a House or Senate candidate's overall campaign budget. "Money is important," he says, "but that's not what it's really about."

It is difficult to say with any precision how often lawmakers are swayed by the gun lobby's money or its endorsements. But there's no question some fear the NRA's ability to make their lives miserable. Suffice to say that at least two Democrats who are up for reelection in 2014 and voted with the NRA against tighter background checks—Begich of Alaska and Pryor of Arkansas—were probably unwilling to test their luck.

There are 26 senators up for reelection in 2014.
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/05/nra-national-rifle-association-money-influence?page=2

More: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/05/nra-national-rifle-association-money-influence

See also:

WORST CONGRESS MONEY CAN BUY
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=87310321

The Gun-Vote Backlash Has Only Just Begun
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=87220500

The Secret History of Guns - In the 1920s and ’30s, the NRA
was at the forefront of legislative efforts to enact gun control.
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=83636435

Pat Toomey: Background Checks Died Because GOP Didn't Want To Help Obama
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=87459273

.. to obstruct Obama 'all the way' from his very first
inauguration day is SMALL .. and, as you very well know

Did Republicans Deliberately Crash the US Economy?
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=78020618

is SMALL .. much more GOP short-sighted vision and smallness in this one ..
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=78459165
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=87969152

And just why is this more important than the 11 embassies
that were attacked where many people lost lives under Bush.
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=87203013

wow, you bitch about koolaid drinkers, good grief, you must be doing straight shots of anti-freeze.

The fact that you cannot interpret such simple things as: bush policies and tax cuts crash the economy...
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=87301405

Atrocities such as the Boston bombing are hard to tackle, but gun crime isn't

The greatest threat to US citizens is not one-off terror
attacks, but the menace that comes with mass gun-ownership
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=87140693