In the wake of Wednesday’s shooting in San Bernadino, Calif., the world, especially those on social media, was once again engulfed in the gun control debate.
One point of controversy focused on the many people on Twitter, especially politicians, who sent out prayers to the victims. Some, particularly those within the political left, expressed that praying over shootings wasn’t enough, especially in the absence of meaningful legislation designed to address the problem of gun violence. This sentiment was illustrated vividly in the cover of Wednesday’s New York Daily News, which proclaimed boldly that “God Isn’t Fixing This.”
An early look at tomorrow’s front page…
GOD ISN’T FIXING THIS: https://t.co/eKUg5f03ecpic.twitter.com/j4gEFg9YtJ— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) December 3, 2015
One reporter, though, took the argument even further. Igor Volsky, a contributing editor at Think Progress — an independent editorial site sponsored by The Center for American Progress Action Fund, a progressive think tank — took a look at all the politicians tweeting out their prayers and figured out how much money each elected official had received from the National Rifle Association. A few examples are below:
NRA dumped $922K into McConnell's re-elect bid, so when it comes to preventing gun violence all u get is this tweet https://t.co/RsSvFRDlZr
— igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) December 3, 2015
Got $1,651 from NRA during the 2012 election cycle. Unlikely to address gun problem beyond "heartbreaking" tweet https://t.co/uhfsiBmegm
— igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) December 3, 2015
Got $2,000 from NRA during 2014 election to help #SanBernadino and all future gun violence victims by "praying" https://t.co/MQDffa7rhN
— igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) December 3, 2015
Got $7,450 from NRA during the 2014 election cycle to address gun violence by "praying for peace" https://t.co/RsVMK3u2ju
— igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) December 3, 2015
All in all, Volsky found that in 2012 the NRA spent $19.7 million on candidates who tweeted “thoughts and prayers” after the San Bernadino shooting.
According to OpenSecrets, a site that tracks money in politics, the NRA spent $984,152 on campaign contributions during the 2014 election cycle. It also spent more than $3 million on lobbying in both 2013 and 2014. The NRA also spent $28,212,718 on outside political contributions during this period, which includes ads paid for directly by the NRA. That makes it the tenth biggest spender when it comes to such political spending.