Comparing spending by gun rights and gun control interest groups

[SecularMotion]

Political spending by gun rights groups far outweighs that by gun control groups. Here, we break down just how wide the discrepancy is.

We define gun rights groups as non-profit organizations that lobby Congress and advocate on behalf of the ownership and use of firearms, and we define gun control groups as non-profit organizations that lobby Congress and advocate for gun control legislation. (Where relevant, we’ve also included donations from super PACs where gun control policy is a major focus.)

We’ve honed in on the largest and most prominent of these special interest groups. See how their spending breaks down

http://www.berkshireeagle.com/politics-national/?third_party=by-the-numbers-comparing-spending-by-gun-rights-and-gun-control-interest-groups&Source=news_widget

[spin]

1. When you consider that the NRA has over 4 million members while the Brady Campaign ...

membership is estimated at somewhere around 50,000 this is not surprising.

More bad news for the anti-gun crowd as the Brady Campaign sells its member list to raise cash

POLITICSJUNE 11, 2012 BY: ROB REED

***snip***

While NRA membership nears 4 million members, the flagship gun control group, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, has been revealed to have just over 50,000 members.

The once-secret Brady Campaign membership numbers were discovered when gun rights activist and blogger Joe Huffman found that the Brady Campaign was selling its membership list for direct mail marketing.
http://www.examiner.com/article/more-bad-news-for-the-anti-gun-crowd-as-the-brady-campaign-sells-its-member-list-to-raise-cash

Some recent estimates state that the NRA membership is growing at 8000 a day. This may or may not be true but considering that firearms sales have absolutely skyrocketed in the last week or so it is not unreasonable. People with the disposable income to buy new firearms which are very expensive items might also be willing to spend a little to join the NRA and may contribute to the NRA-ILA which is the political wing of the NRA. If you think the NRA wields a big club today imagine how powerful it will be in the next year if Democrats push for truly draconian gun legislation.

The prime reason why strong gun control laws have a hard time passing in our nation is not just the NRA but the fact that 80,000,000 Americans own firearms and also vote. If a congressional Democrat comes from a Red state he realizes that voting for strong gun control could be political suicide in a close election against a strong Republican who supports gun rights. Few politicians from gun friendly states are willing to sacrifice a long lucrative career in politics over the gun control issue.

Congress may pass another watered down assault weapons ban after lengthy debate but it will be just another in a long string of "feel good" laws which accomplish little or nothing. If you disagree just realize that Republicans are in control of the House of Representatives for at least the next two years.

[SecularMotion]

2. Are you a blogger on Examiner.com?

Examiner.com is a multiuser blogging site, run by conservative mega-donor Phillip Anschutz that presents itself as a news site. Don't be fooled.

Examiner.com pays its writers based (among other things) on pageviews. As a result, a lot of Examiner material tends to be sensationalistic to attract attention — positive or negative doesn't matter, it's all clicks — and you will see enthusiastic Examiner bloggers linkspamming furiously on other sites, often touting their work as "media coverage" (and themselves as "journalists" or "the press&quot rather than just a blog post they themselves wrote.

http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Examiner.com

[spin]

4. Nope. ...

My point is that the Brady Campaign has far fewer members than the NRA. I don't think that this is a questionable fact although the actual number can be fairly debated.

[gejohnston]

3. have to have donor money first

http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/lookup2.php?strID=C00113449

http://www.bbb.org/charity-reviews/national/health/brady-center-to-prevent-gun-violence-in-washington-dc-1136
Wikipedia says their membership is 28K. I'm guessing most or all of their Joyce Foundation money goes to salaries and office rent.

Oh, I found this
http://lists.nextmark.com/market;jsessionid=1625C0EDAE99C2137AEF67C9955D34A4?page=order/online/datacard&id=163065

[spin]

5. Wow!!! After looking at the BBB report, even if I was a strong gun control advocate ...

I would be hesitant to give the Brady Campaign a donation.

[bobclark86]

6. Brady, like the NRA, is NOT a grassroots...

but is an astroturf.

[GreenStormCloud]

8. NRA is not astroturf.

NRA has been around since 1871, and has well over four million members. That isn't astroturf.

[Eleanors38]

10. Brady is GOP-founded, GOP-led.

[GreenStormCloud]

7. They left out Second Amendment Foundation, 650,000 members.

And there are many other gun-rights groups:

Gun Owner’s Action League
Second Amendment Police Department (Cops who are pro-RKBA)
National Association of Gun Rights
Students for Concealed Carry
Students for Second Amendment
Constitutional Rights Enforcement & Support Team
Second Amendment Sisters
Pink Pistols (Armed gays don’t get bashed.)
Armed Females of America (They want to repeal ALL gun laws including NFA 1934)
Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership (They are a “never again” group)
Liberty Belles
Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership
Doctors for Sensible Gun Laws (Note: Not same organization as above but both have the same purpose. Strongly pro-gun)
Citizen's Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms
Mothers Arms
The Paul Revere Network
NRAWOL (They think the NRA is AWOL in the fight for gun rights.)
The Liberal Gun Club

[virginia mountainman]

9. No suprise thier...

Gun control advocates tend to be all talk. Whereas gun rights advocates tend to write checks