Every time some gun-related tragedy occurs, we get to hear from innumerable people who know nothing about guns other than everything is the NRA’s fault. And everything they think they know about the NRA is wrong. In other words, they think they know one thing but the one thing they know is wrong.
The thing they think they know is that the NRA pays off (Republican) politicians to vote against gun control bills.
I asked ChatGPT “How much does the NRA donate annually to politicians?” And I got this answer:
The National Rifle Association (NRA) is a powerful lobbying organization that has donated millions of dollars to political candidates and causes over the years. However, the organization is not required to disclose its exact political contributions, and the amount it donates can vary widely from year to year and election cycle to election cycle.
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks money in politics, the NRA’s political action committee (PAC) spent more than $10 million on the 2020 election cycle.
Keep that number in mind: $10 million.
Then I asked ChatGPT “Who were the top 50 contributors in the 2020 election cycle?” Here’s the answer:
The following information is based on data from the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks money in politics. Here are the top 50 contributors in the 2020 election cycle:
- Bloomberg LP – $1.7 billion
- Future Forward USA – $436 million
- Democratic Party of Wisconsin – $381 million
- Senate Majority PAC – $373 million
- Presidential Action Fund – $313 million
- American Bridge 21st Century – $297 million
- Senate Leadership Fund – $279 million
- Conservative Solutions PAC – $277 million
- National Republican Senatorial Committee – $257 million
- Congressional Leadership Fund – $256 million
- Senate Conservatives Action – $225 million
- Fair Fight PAC – $208 million
- Service Employees International Union – $203 million
- Priorities USA Action – $192 million
- WinRed – $187 million
- National Republican Congressional Committee – $176 million
- American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees – $175 million
- Laborers’ International Union of North America – $163 million
- American Crossroads – $161 million
- House Majority PAC – $159 million
- UNITE HERE – $156 million
- Democratic Governors Association – $155 million
- Republican National Committee – $153 million
- New York State Democratic Committee – $149 million
- 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East – $143 million
- American Federation of Teachers – $135 million
- SEIU Committee on Political Education – $134 million
- National Education Association – $133 million
- American Medical Association – $132 million
- Laborers’ Political League Education Fund – $130 million
- United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners – $129 million
- Carpenters & Joiners Union – $128 million
- American Association for Justice – $126 million
- Center for American Progress Action Fund – $124 million
- Sixteen Thirty Fund – $122 million
- National Association of Realtors – $118 million
- Senate Majority PAC – Reid – $117 million
- Northrop Grumman – $115 million
- Operating Engineers Union – $114 million
- National Education Association Advocacy Fund – $111 million
- Everytown for Gun Safety Victory Fund – $110 million
- United Steelworkers – $109 million
- Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee – $108 million
- Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund – $106 million
- Club for Growth – $105 million
- American Postal Workers Union – $104 million
- United Auto Workers – $103 million
- National Beer Wholesalers Association – $102 million
- Republican Governors Association – $100 million
- The Lincoln Project – $99 million
It’s worth noting that this list includes a mix of political parties, PACs, labor unions, and other organizations.
A couple that jumped out at me here are the Everytown for Gun Safety Victory Fund (at #41) and the Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund (at #44), neither of which I’ve ever heard of, but which contributed a combined $216 million, more than 20 times the $10 million contributed by the NRA. In fact the NRA’s paltry $10 million puts it a full order of magnitude outside the top 50 contributors.
The “NRA buys everyone off” myth is one of the biggest red herrings in American politics. It’s a stroke of genius, I suppose, to have embedded it so deeply in our collective psyche that anyone who’s so inclined can throw it into a conversation about guns at a moment’s notice, even though it’s completely 100% false.