Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

NRA breaks fundraising record in month after Parkland shooting

The fundraising record tops all months going back to 2003, the furthest back that digital records are readily available

Clark Mindock
New York
Tuesday 24 April 2018 17:39 BST
Comments
March For Our Lives: Martin Luther King's grandaughter Yolanda's speech in Washington DC

The National Rifle Association (NRA) has received record breaking donations in the aftermath of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in February, even as students across the country have led massive demonstrations to promote gun control legislation.

The organisation’s political action committee, dubbed the Political Victory Fund, raised $2.4m in March — the first full month following the massacre in Parkland, Florida where 17 people were killed including 14 teenagers.

That is $1.5m more than the $884,000 in donations the organisation received during the same month last year, and $1.6m more than it raised in February this year. The fundraising total is the most the organisation has been able to raise in a single month since 2003, the furthest back that digital records are readily available for their totals, according to an analysis by the Tampa Bay Times.

Most of the funds — $1.9m of the total — were raised by small dollar donors who contributed $200 or less.

While the NRA contributes some of those funds to political candidates, the organisation primarily spends its money on outside operations to help bolster candidates it supports.

That strategy can be seen in Florida, where Senator Marco Rubio received only $9,900 in direct contributions from the NRA during his 2016 Senate campaign, but was supported by the organisation with $3.3m in outside spending to boost his campaign.

Even so, the group wields considerable power over Republican candidates through its ability to energize its members to vote in GOP primaries across the country — often ensuring that Republican candidates who want to have any chance of making it to Washington tow the NRA’s policy lines when it comes to firearms.

That influence can be seen in the recent letter from the group’s powerful lobbyist in Florida, Marion Hammer, to members in the state.

The letter attacked Republicans in the state who had voted for a rare gun control bill following the Parkland shooting that instituted a three-day waiting period for buying shotguns and rifles, raised the age to buy a gun from 18 to 21, and banned so-called bump stock attachments that allow semi-automatic weapons to fire at near-automatic rates.

“We did NOT support the gratuitous gun control provisions added to the bill by REPUBLICANS,” the letter, which named the “betrayers” in the state who voted for the measure, read. “Republican legislators are responsible for passage of the 'gun control bill.' They lacked the courage to uphold their oath of office and keep their word to constituents who voted for them. They were in total control. They no longer deserve your trust.”

The NRA’s spending to support or oppose candidates at the federal level has so far outpaced gun control groups and their fundraising prowess.

NRA backers blow up Yeti coolers after NRA announces company is cutting ties

The gun lobby sent $31m attacking Democrat Hillary Clinton or supporting Donald Trump during the 2016 election, and spent millions more on other federal elections.

The March for Our Lives group has raised $3.5m since a GoFundMe account was cerated online February 18, but much of that has been used to help victims’ families and to organize marches around the country.

Other groups like Everytown for Gun Safety’s political action fund raised $13,580 in March, and former US Representative Gabrielle Giffords' — who was shot in 2011 during a constituent event in Tucson — group raised $129,589 in March.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in