Use Sunlight's interactive table to get a state by state breakdown how much groups on either side of the gun debate gave candidates for state and federal office.
Continue readingBarrage of political campaign spending follows shootings at Sandy Hook
Even in an "off" election year, groups on both sides of the gun debate spent millions to influence public opinion, and some have stockpiled big warchests for 2014.
Continue readingHired guns: K Street revolvers shot blanks against NRA artillery
Gun control groups made a big investment in professional lobbyists after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting but even the K Street top guns were no match for the National Rifle Association.
Continue readingBoth sides of gun debate see hope in Virginia elections
Outside spending groups on either side of the gun control debate find reasons for optimism after Virginia's tight gubernatorial race, in spite of the fact that issues like the economy, healthcare and ethics scandals seem to have been foremost on voters' minds.
Continue readingDespite Bloomberg funded ad campaign, Nevada’s Sandoval vetoed gun bill
In Nevada, where a school shooting school shooting today left two dead--including the shooter--and two injured, the governor vetoed a bill last June that would have strengthened background check laws.
Gov. Brian Sandoval, a Republican, rejected the measure despite an advertising blitz by the pro gun control group funded largely by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Mayors Against Illegal Guns.
The pro-gun control group advertised early and often Las Vegas this year, according to a search on Political Ad Sleuth, the Sunlight tool that tracks spending on political ads. Ads began in March and the most recent one aired ...
Continue readingWill Bloomberg’s wrath hurt senators who opposed gun bill?
Billionaire Mayor Mike Bloomberg is asking prominent Democratic donors in New York, a key source of funds for candidates across the country, to stop contributing to the four Democratic senators who voted to block a bill that would have strengthened background checks for gun buyers, the New York Times reported.
Continue readingMayors Against Illegal Guns runs ad backing Nevada background checks
The latest TV ad by Mayors Against Illegal Guns, the gun control group funded by Mayor Mike Bloomberg, hit the airwaves in Nevada this week, ahead of a close vote Wednesday on a background check bill that passed the state Senate.
The bill would close the loophole that allows private sales to be made without checking the criminal background of the purchaser. It also bans people deemed mentally ill and likely to harm someone from possessing a gun. The bill can be followed on Scout, Sunlight's tool for tracking the progress of state and federal legislation.
The bill passed ...
Continue readingMayors Against Illegal Guns hits the airwaves in N.H and Pa.
Mayors Against Illegal Guns, the pro-gun control group backed by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, is not giving up the fight.
Three weeks after the Senate rejected legislation offered in the wake of the December shooting massacre that left 26 people dead at a Connecticut elementary school, the group is launching what appears to be a high-priced ad campaign to keep the pressure on lawmakers.
The ad seen above attacks Sen. Kelly Ayotte, a New Hampshire Republican who was the lone lawmaker from the Northeast to vote against the gun control measure; another advertisement praises Sen. Pat Toomey, a ...
Continue readingWhy pro-gun groups still have the upper hand in Congress
To understand why the Senate voted today to reject a bipartisan deal on gun control, despite emotional -- and heavily broadcast appeals -- by parents of children gunned down in the Newtown, Conn. massacre, it helps to take a look at the influence profiles of groups on both sides of the debate.
Although Mayors Against Illegal Guns, one of the groups pressing for stricter regulation of firearms, dominated the airwaves in the weeks leading up to the vote, groups opposed to such measures have spent far more money over a far longer period of time to win friends and intimidate people on ...
Continue readingSince Newtown, full employment for gun lobbyists
Since the Dec. 14 shooting that left 26 people dead at a Connecticut elementary school, at least 22 lobbyists have registered to influence Congress on gun-related issues, and several have been holding fundraisers for Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican who is a potential swing vote in the legislative battle on Capitol Hill.
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