How to counter the NRA power

[Miigwech]

Looking up the number of the largest pro gun control organizations groups (23) compared to pro-gun groups (NRA and 3 or 4 others) makes one wonder why all the pro-gun control groups don't just get together to form one large coalition. It would dwarf the NRA. I just got a letter from Gabby Gifford's organization, Courage to fight Gun Violence, one of many.

Gun Rights: Background

An upward trend in the number of mass shootings has fueled a contentious debate about gun rights. And while liberals throw cash behind pro-gun control efforts through super PACs like Giffords PAC (formed by gun violence victim and former Rep. Gabby Giffords) and nonprofits like Everytown For Gun Safety (backed by Michael Bloomberg), groups like the National Rifle Association are still powerful in Washington. The NRA has been a strong voice for the rights of gun owners across the country, battling attempts to enact gun control legislation at every level of government.

Aside from the NRA, other major gun rights advocacy groups include the National Shooting Sports Foundation and the National Association for Gun Rights.

Traditionally, the gun debate has been controlled by Republicans favoring gun rights as far the money is concerned. For instance, in 2016, Everytown spent $1.35 million in lobbying. The NRA spent more than twice as much. They also made over a million in political contributions, mostly to Republicans, and spent $20 million opposing Hillary Clinton's bid for the presidency, breaking their own spending records.

That all changed after the election when gun rights outside spending began to crater and gun control outside spending spiked. This paradigm shift was complemented by highly publicized shootings in Parkland, Florida and Las Vegas, Nevada. In Parkland, a 19-year-old used an AR-15 rifle to kill 17 people at a high school. (Several survivors of the shooting have since become influential gun control activists.) In Las Vegas, a man fired into a crowd from the 32nd floor of a hotel and casino, killing 58 and wounding hundreds. The shooter had modified legal guns with bump stocks to make them fire like automatics.

The NRA has also seen a steep decline in member dues

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https://www.opensecrets.org/industries/background.php?cycle=2020&ind=q13

[Hoyt]

1. I think it's pretty much the same gun-humpers who belong to the various groups.

I'm not sure member dues is the main funding source for the NRA's, or other organization's, lobbying efforts -- it's the manufacturers and other gun profiteers, other white wing policy groups not even that interested in gunz, and even Russia.