NRA’s Top Four Donation Recipients in Senate Back Bipartisan Gun Deal

The four top United States Senate recipients of donations from the National Rifle Association have all signed on in support of the bipartisan statement announcing a “framework” for gun safety legislation that was released by a group of senators this past weekend.The NRA has declined to state its stance on the deal, telling the Sun: “We will make our position known when the full text of the bill is available for review.” However, the proposed deal contains provisions the NRA has opposed in the past, including funds allowing states to expand their “red-flag” laws. The legislation also got a boost on Tuesday afternoon when the minority leader, Senator McConnell, said he’d vote for the bipartisan proposal. This sets up a possible conflict between the NRA and some of its longtime Republican allies in the Senate as the proposal is drafted into legislation.Of the 100 lawmakers currently in office, Senators Romney, Burr, Blunt, and Tillis have received the most money from the NRA over the course of their careers. This is according to a report by the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence — a pro-gun control group — which referenced data from Open Secrets, a website that tracks political donations made by interest groups to public officials. The data combine the total amount of “direct donations, independent expenditures, and other patronages” received from the NRA over the course of each senator’s career. Mr. Romney has received $13,647,676 from the organization since his first run for governor of Massachusetts in 2002 — $3.2 million of which came during his 2012 campaign against President Obama, according to the nonpartisan research institute MapLight. Mr. Burr has received $6,987,380, Mr. Blunt has received $4,555,722, and Mr. Tillis has received $4,429,333, according to the data cited in the post.Mr. McConnell has received $1,283,515 from the NRA over the course of his career.All of these senators have also signed onto the bipartisan gun proposal announced this Sunday, which includes among its provisions “Support for State Crisis Intervention Orders,” more commonly known as “red-flag” laws. According to the statement announcing the framework, the legislation “provides resources to states and tribes to create and administer laws that help ensure deadly weapons are kept out of the hands of individuals whom a court has determined to be a significant danger to themselves or others.”A spokesman for the NRA, Andrew Arulanandam, said the group has a policy that it does not take positions on “frameworks.” “The NRA will continue to oppose any effort to insert gun control policies, initiatives that override constitutional due process protections and efforts to deprive law-abiding citizens of their fundamental right to protect themselves and their loved ones into this or any other legislation,” Mr. Arulanandam said.The NRA has opposed efforts to implement red-flag laws in 17 states, according to USA Today. In 2018, when the Republican-controlled Florida legislature passed a red-flag law following the school shooting at Parkland, the NRA’s Florida lobbyist, Marion Hammer, was one of the bill’s most outspoken opponents. Ms. Hammer referred to the 17 Republicans who supported the bill as “turncoats” and “betrayers.”The NRA Institute for Legislative Action has also criticized red-flag laws. In 2021, pointing to what it viewed as an unreasonable application of Florida’s law, it released an editorial calling out a “lack of due process, impact on civil liberties, the flimsy standards, and a process that is slanted towards the issuance of an order” that is says is inherent to red-flag laws.The NRA has previously signaled some openness to red-flag laws that adhere to specific parameters. In the comments attached to a 2018 Youtube video featuring the chairman of the NRA’s lobbying arm, Chris Cox, the NRA’s official account provided a list of conditions under which it would support such legislation.These included criminal penalties for frivolous charges, a requirement of “clear and convincing evidence” that a person meets the standards for involuntary commitment, and a requirement that the individual receive mental health treatment after a firearm is confiscated.Upon request for the group’s stance regarding red-flag laws in 2022, the NRA did not immediately respond for comment.However, should the organization come out against providing states with funds to expand red-flag laws, or against any other measure in the package, it risks creating a schism between itself and some of its Republican allies in the Senate.

NRA’s Top Four Donation Recipients in Senate Back Bipartisan Gun Deal

NRA’s Top Four Donation Recipients in Senate Back Bipartisan Gun Deal

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