NRA the "Big and Powerful Lobby"

[Thefabulousfink]

I keep hearing in news articles and from anti-gunners that the NRA is this big evil lobby throwing millions of $$ at politicians and hijaking the government. Now the NRA does contribute to candidates that support the 2nd and is often urging Congressmen and Senators to vote against gun restrictions, but isn't that what any advocacy group would do? I allways thought that the power of the NRA was derived from the large amount of voters who support the 2A.

To combat the Antis, I was wondering if anyone knew how much the NRA spent on candidates and lobbying when compared to:
other lobby groups(oil, logging, big business, etc.)
Union groups (teachers, police, steelworkers, etc.)
And groups like the Bradys and the Joyce Foundation.


I tried a couple google searches, but came up with nothing. It would be nice to have some facts to shoot down the anti's when they try to make the NRA into some big boogie-man.

Thanks.

 

[SoCalShooter]

I read somewhere that apparently in lobbying power the NRA spends the most...next to big oil of course.

 

[Thefabulousfink]

might be true, but still, there aren't 80 million gas station owners in the US

 

[ArmedBear]

Anyone who wants to throw big money around, and hijack the government to protect ANY PART of the Bill of Rights, has my blessing.

 

[TexasRifleman]

Really throw them for a loop when you truthfully tell them that the NRA does not and legally CANNOT lobby.

That will make their heads spin.......

NRA cannot legally lobby, they had to create a different corporation for that, it's called the Institute for Legislative Action, ILA.

Baffle them with the truth for some fun

I read somewhere that apparently in lobbying power the NRA spends the most.

NRA-ILA's budget is funded only a tiny bit by actual NRA membership dues.
The lobbying money comes from direct contributions to ILA and other sources.

NRA spends big money on organizing grass roots stuff etc, but they can't spend big money on lobbying, they are prohibited by some bizarre laws governing those sorts of things (that I won't even try to understand).

And when it comes to donating directly to candidates:

Neither NRA member dues nor contributions to ILA can be used directly for the election or defeat of candidates.

There is a Political Victory Fund that has to be maintained as a separate legal thing from both the lobbying and grass roots organizations.

The amazing thing is that NRA is still effective even with all these legal roadblocks in place to try to curtail their activity.
Don't think it's a coincidence that all these legal roadblocks are in place, it's one more way the anti's fight us.

Remember that when you are tempted to complain that "NRA isn't doing this or that". There is probably some roadblock in their way.

 

[MudCamper]

The NRA is one of the most feared "lobby groups" because it is funded entirely by contributions by millions of private citizens. This makes it impossible to control, unlike most lobby groups.

 

[Just_a_dude_with_a_gun]

eh.

Now THIS is a big and powerful lobby.

 

[Zundfolge]

The myth has two parts.

1) the NRA is a rich and powerful lobby
2) they are rich and powerful because they further the interests of the firearms industry (which is rich and powerful).


The flaws in the myth are that the firearms industry is NOT rich and powerful ... its made up of a bunch of little mom and pop businesses that are barely profitable ... the entire US Firearms Industry makes about $2 Billion per year (keep in mind that McDonald's makes over $12 Billion/yr).

The reason the NRA is so "rich and powerful" is that it represents a large percentage of the people ... not rich businessmen "making trillions on the blood of children", but average people who wish to preserve their rights.


The AARP and NAACP are also both "Big and Powerful Lobbies" but you never hear the leftists complaining about them. Its because they know most people will buy into populist/collectivist/anti business lies.

 

[Justin]

In any given year, the NRA easily outspends the anti-rights organizations.

Open Secrets numbers for Brady Campaign in 2004.

Open Secrets numbers for RKBA lobby in 2004.

They also list the donations made so far in this election cycle, too. Overall, Open Secrets is worth bookmarking.

 

[Cosmoline]

The NRA is actually a small player as far as money changing hands. Their contributions are miniscule compared with the drug companies, oil, insurance, etc. The NRA's strength comes through its membership and their votes. The hard data is here:

http://www.opensecrets.org/

You'll notice the NRA doesn't even make it to the top contributor lists in PAC or soft money contributions. It barely made it to the soft money list in 2000, with what was probably its most active campaign to date. It contributed a paltry 1.4 million.

http://www.opensecrets.org/bigpicture/softtop.asp?cycle=2000

The unions and trial lawyers, added together, dwarf the NRA many times over. So does big business of all stripes. The NRA outspends the antis, but in the overall scheme of things their money is nowhere near enough to influence anything. Its power comes from the threat that gun owners can swing elections--and that's a power the real big spenders simply don't have. Not even Wal-Mart and the drug companies.

 

[antsi]

--quote-----

The myth has two parts.

1) the NRA is a rich and powerful lobby
2) they are rich and powerful because they further the interests of the firearms industry (which is rich and powerful).
-------------

Yes to 1) and 2). There is also a 3), namely, the myth that the NRA gets its money from a small elite of gun industry powers and wealthy fanatics.

They just can't wrap their heads around the fact that all that money comes from FOUR MILLION individual members, each chucking in their $25 or so. To do so, they would have to admit that the NRA's agenda has a broad base of support.

It is ironic, because the anti-gun side is financed by a small elite of wealthy fanatics.

 

[Thefabulousfink]

Thanks Justin and Cosmoline, those links are really good.

I knew that the NRA spent more than the Brady bunch, but every time that I'd hear someone claim that the NRA is making secret deal in the lofty corridors of power I get the "you kidding me" face.

I think the anti's like to demonize the NRA and claim that it is the puppet of Big (small) Business is because they are afraid of its power and legitimacy. I don't think that the Million Mom March can claim 4 million die-hard members and several million non-members who are all aligned behind a single purpose and have extremely high voter turnout and dedication.

 

[geekWithA.45]

OpenSecrets tells us that the NRA spent 18 million lobbying since 1990.

The Joyce Foundation _alone_ stealthily spent 34 million on anti gun social engineering, propaganda and fake grassroots campaigns since 1996.

Consider then, that Joyce is a _small_, "regional" liberal foundation, and that we also have Soros & Pew playing the same games.

 

[Kowboy]

This NRA-ILA member has no apologies. He bought and paid for his politicians fair and square.

Kowboy

 

[geekWithA.45]

One would think that it shouldn't be necessary to have to influence our congressCritters to, you know, do the right thing, and obey their oaths to the Constitution.

 

[tulsamal]

The NRA is an example of a "grass-roots" lobbying organization. They can and do make some contributions. But their real "power" comes from their ability to mobilize their members. And those members are willing to vote and willing to write/phone/email their representatives to a very high degree. A motivated grass-roots lobby can be just as effective as a very slick and professional one that spends a ton more money but has far fewer actual "members."

Gregg

 

[carpediem]

Ah, yes. The much maligned, insidious, corrupt, ultra-powerful NRA. I'm surprising there isn't a snopes article on these ridiculous characterizations. For all the hyperbole spewn by the Antis, Media, Leftists, and other uninformed/willfully-ignorant entities, you'd think the NRA goes out and annoints the next president and members of Congress.

The reality is that gun owners are much more politically-active and organized than they used to be. Part of this is no doubt due to the potential of the internet. The rest, I like to think, the Bradys brought on themselves. The AWB and other radical legislation stands as a stark monument to the voracity of the Antis, catalyzing many of us who would otherwise be complacent toward activity. If it weren't for the persistent challenges to my rights as a law-abiding CA citizen to possess arms including self-loading and military-style rifles, I probably wouldn't be involved in the defending the RTKBA. If we forget the past, we are doomed to repeat it.

 

[FTF]

I'm one of the camp that thinks the reason the NRA is so successful is that they can organize one of the most dedicated and intelligent demographics in the country. Just look at how much we influence little things like those online polls... even here, without the NRA. The antis don't care... they just whine and introduce bills. I feel comfortable saying that on any anti-gun bill introduced that more gun owners call/write, by a large margin than the anti's... it's just that some of our electorate is on their own agenda no matter what the people think.

 

[dm1333]

My American Rifleman gets delivered to work so some of the younger people can read it and get a view of the other side of the gun control issue. I also mailed a check today to the PVF.

 

[Art Eatman]

According to interviews with Congress-critters, the NRA is second only to the Old Farts' AARP as to effectiveness. It indeed is the grass-roots response the NRA can bring about.

Suggestion: Instead of mailing in one of the postcard thingies, write your own snail-mail letter, merely referring to some legislation by its House or Senate number and saying, "I support the NRA's position."

That's easy enough to write by hand instead of typing. Hand-written snail-mail is the most effective form of communicating with Congress. Better odds of the electee reading it, instead of only some staffer.

Art

 

[bogie]

The Absolute Best Lobby is the Peabody....

Ducks Rule!

 

[crunker]

The Brady Bunch has no right to call the NRA corrupt or self-serving as they are a ****ing commercial website - the Brady Bunch exists for the profit of the owner(s).

 

[geekWithA.45]

Here's something else to consider.

Running my eye down the pro RKBA pac contributions, the whole thing totals up to about $1.5 million, which, to be quite frank, is chump change as these things go.

PAC contributions only tell a part of the story, when you consider that a medium sized liberal interest group, the Joyce Foundation, ALONE has spent over $30 million dollars on various initiatives whose nature is both anti gun and social engineering. For example, they fund the sham "2nd Amendment Institute" (or whatever the heck it is), they fund lots of little grassroots and astroturf groups, and pay folks who would otherwise have to work for a living to do nothing but scheme against us and issue anti gun press releases at every opportunity.

In a similiar vein, just 8 liberal foundations caughed up $123 million to promote the death of the first amendment via McCain-Fiengold's campaign finance reform.

Read here for disgusting details: http://geekwitha45.blogspot.com/2005_03_13_geekwitha45_archive.html#111108066560038393

 

[Beagle-zebub]

The NRA doesn't have a subservient government agency, and is thus not a powerful lobby.

Anyone who has taken a government or poli-sci class knows that the truly powerful lobbies are those with an "iron triangle": defense contractors, the DoD, and Congress; agribusiness, the Department of Agriculture, and Congress; Big Pharma, the FDA, and Congress; media conglomerates, the FCC, and Congress; and so many others. Surely the antis won't try to tell me that the ATF is in the pocket of firearms producers and consumers.

 

[scout26]

I spoke with Illinois' NRA lobbyist (Todd Vandermyde) a few years ago and he told me that it's not about the money.

The was an anti-gun bill going around Springfield and the NRA (and ISRA) had put the word out on the street to call and keep calling a particular House member. Within two days the house member tracked down our lobbyist and said "Make it stop, My people can't get anything done except answer the phones, please make it stop....." Our lobbyist said "Withdraw the bill and it ends...." He did and we did.........

That's were our power is, not money, but PEOPLE who CARE about the 2A and their RKBA.