INFLUENCE GAME: NRA lobbying targets courthouses

[Tx4obama]

INFLUENCE GAME: NRA lobbying targets courthouses

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The National Rifle Association has enjoyed high-profile success over the years in shaping gun-rights legislation in Congress and statehouses, in part by campaigning to defeat lawmakers who defied the group.

Now, the NRA has added a lesser-known strategy to protect its interests: opposing President Barack Obama's judicial nominees whom it sees as likely to enforce gun-control laws. In some cases, the group's opposition has kept jobs on federal benches unfilled.

Still in its early stages, the effort is a safety net to ensure that federal courthouses are stocked with judges who are friendly to gun rights, should gun restrictions somehow get through the group's first line of defense on Capitol Hill. The NRA also weighs in on state judicial elections and appointments, another fail-safe if the massacre of young children at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school leads to tighter gun-control measures.

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Full article here: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_NRA_STRATEGY?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-01-09-03-13-33

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