Lobbying Spending Down Overall, But Not For Gun Advocates, Big Pharma, Agriculture
Pharmaceutical behemoths, gun advocates and corporate agriculture interests are notable outliers among the nation’s biggest government lobbying forces, many of which have otherwise shrunk their policy influence armies this summer and autumn in Washington, D.C.
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The upstart National Association for Gun Rights led the way, investing more than $1 million into a wide-ranging effort to block gun control bills and strengthen firearm owners’ legal protections. The group, which touts itself as supporting gun rights “without compromise” and never lobbied the federal government before this year, spent more than $3 million during the year’s second quarter.
It easily bested the better-known National Rifle Association and its subsidiaries, which together spent a healthy $820,000 during the third quarter.
“We know President Obama and Harry Reid are counting votes and will move to pass any gun control bill they can when they get the votes to do so,” National Association for Gun Rights spokeswoman Danielle Thompson said when asked why her group continued heavy lobbying efforts even as gun control legislation has, of late, faded as a congressional flashpoint. “There are still hundreds of negative laws and regulations on the books that restrict gun ownership, and it’s not our goal to just defend our rights from attack, but actively fight to fully restore them.”
Mayors Against Illegal Guns, led in part by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, spent $500,000 from July 1 through September, down slightly from its all-time quarterly high of $580,000 from April 1 through June....
Read More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/22/lobbying-spending_n_4145040.html
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Divisiveness isn't a strategy. I'm sincere about finding common ground to make a difference.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1172&pid=131377
I could link to any number of other posts where I call for expansion of California's gun violence reduction measures to the other 50 states, but we need to look even deeper at the causes of gun violence.
But for discussion, the thread above is a beginning.
