The National Rifle Association has fallen on some tough times of late. They've been implicated in a Russian spy ring. Reporters and federal investigators are snooping around to determine whether Russian cash flowed into the ur-militia group as a way of evading campaign finance laws. Brands are shunning them, the toaster is laughing at them, and to cap things off some idiot convinced them that the best way America's most fervent defenders of "good" murder could turn things around would be to put America's most notorious modern traitor in charge.
And right when the amount of cash the NRA is spending to influence our elections is cratering, groups demanding stricter gun control laws have been outspending them.
Everytown for Gun Safety, a group founded by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, pledged $30 million for this year’s election and has continued to put new money into competitive races in the final days. A political action committee formed by Gabby Giffords, the former congresswoman wounded in a shooting, is spending nearly $5 million.
Meanwhile, the NRA has put just $11 million into those same midterm races. It's still a boatload of cash, to be sure, but marks a steep decline from their usual efforts.
Will the NRA be Putin any more money into this cycle? We won't know for sure until the final numbers are posted, but they sure don't seem to be Russian to do so.
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