I link here (www.admala.org/NRA_Political_Contributions.pdf), in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings, a list of the NRA's 2012 political contributions. Of note in this table, compiled by opensecrets.org, is not simply the fact that the NRA heavily favors the Republican Party (which is to be expected); it is the percentage of total distributed campaign funds that the NRA derived from PACs in 2012... PACs, rather than individual donors. To the extent that the NRA procures its political juice from only handful of special interests (gun manufacturers among them), it also pursues an agenda that would seem to neglect the express wishes of at least a majority its own members. Indeed, at least a majority of card-carrying NRA members favor the adoption of such measures as waiting periods and licensing for prospective gun owners, criminal background checks on gun owners and employees of gun retailers, and—the kicker—the closing of gun show loopholes. A recent poll by no less a Republican toady than Frank Luntz supports this contention.¹
The Sandy Hook massacre follows on a long line of cases of mass murder (including Tucson, Va. Tech, and Columbine) that were made possible by access to firearms by unbalanced individuals. The fact that the NRA—contrary to the will of a majority of its members—continues to advance the cause of unlimited access of assault-style weaponry to the public is testament to the extent to which the profit motive rules both its ethos and its actions. The fact that its beneficiaries in federal government continue to sign off on this cause is testament to their clear lack of fitness for higher office. The money they take from the NRA is as close to what is called 'blood money' as any political payoff the author can fathom. Absent a demonstrable willingness on part of these office-holders to now make amends for past inaction on gun control, voting them out of office should the priority of their constituents in 2014 and 2016.
1—http://www.mayorsagainstillegalguns.org/downloads/pdf/luntz_poll_questionnaire_and_responses.pdf