Huffington Post: NRA's Money, Power Defeated Senate Gun Control Bill

In a column published on May 1, the Huffington Post blamed the recent defeat of gun control in the Senate on the NRA’s “money and power.”

Just months removed from Adam Lanza’s heinous crime in Newtown, and just days before a Senate gun control vote where “90 percent of Americans” supposedly supported a background check for all gun purchases, Senators began announcing their intentions to vote against more gun control.

Why did this happen? According to the Huffington Post, it happened because the NRA brought all its might to bear on Senators who were still undecided on the bill.

According to the Huffington Post, the NRA, coupled with organizations like Gun Owners of America, has been able to “pour $81 million into House, Senate, and presidential races” since the 2000 presidential race. The NRA alone “spent $18.6 million on various campaigns” during the last election cycle.

However, the Huffington Post quotes Gregg Lee Carter, the editor of Guns in American Society, as saying the NRA’s power comes not in its monetary contributions to politicians but in how “they can make their lives miserable.” The NRA’s power lies in the millions upon millions of Americans who proudly say, “I am the NRA.”

As the Huffington Post put it, the NRA’s success “is rooted in multiple factors, among them the pure passion and single-mindedness of many gun owners” and the organization’s keen ability to tap into this passion.