This Is How Much Each GOP Senator Has Received From Gun Rights Groups
This article has been updated to reflect that Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-IN) voted for all four gun control measures.
Barely more than a week after 49 people lost their lives in the worst mass shooting in American history, Congress has once again voted against gun control. The GOP-controlled Senate rejected four measures that would’ve made background-checks mandatory and prevented names on the terror list watch list from buying guns. Similar gun-control measures were also rejected after the Sandy Hook Elementary School and San Bernardino shootings.
Sen. Chris Murphy, who kick-started the vote with a 15-hour filibuster last week, and who sponsored two of the measures, said he was not surprised by the outcome, “I’m going to be turning my attention to the November election. I’m going to take some of my energy and help make sure that people who cast the wrong vote don’t come back to the Senate,” he told Politico.
“Sadly, our efforts are blocked by the Republican Congress, who take their marching orders from the National Rifle Association.” Said Democratic Sen. Harry Reid in a floor speech.
The Center for Responsive Politics reports:
Gun rights interests have given more than $37 million to candidates, parties and outside spending groups since 1989, with 88 percent of the funds contributed to candidates and parties going to Republicans. And in the 2012 and 2014 election cycles, they let loose another $48 million (at least) in outside spending.
The NRA has provided the lion’s share of the funds, having contributed $22.3 million since 1989. During the 2014 election cycle, it further opened its coffers to make $27 million in outside expenditures.
GOP senators who voted against the “No Fly, No Buy” proposal said that they were just trying to protect the gun rights of people who mistakenly end up on the terror watch list. Instead, Republicans offered two countermeasures: one that would have placed a 72-hour hold on gun sales to people on the terrorist watch list, and another which would have expanded the legal definitions that prevent people with mental health issues form buying guns.
Democrats overwhelmingly rejected those, saying they would have made no difference in the Orlando tragedy.
According to the latest CNN/ORC poll, 92 percent of respondents said they wanted to expand background checks, and 85 percent said they supported a ban for people on federal watch lists from buying guns. Ninety percent of Republicans questioned favored preventing people on the terror list from buying guns, compared to 85 percent of questioned Democrats.
So with support for gun control at an all time high, even amongst Republicans, which senators voted against the restrictions, and why?
The voting occurred mostly along partisan lines, with 53 of 54 Republicans voting against the two Democratic measures. But it was not only Republicans: Sen. Jon Tester voted against Chris Murphy’s bill, and Sen. Heidi Heitkamp voted against Diane Feinstein’s bill.
These senators are two of few Democrats to have taken NRA money — Heitkamp has received $8,000 from gun groups throughout her career and Tester has received $2,50s.
Both senators will seek reelection in heavily republican states in 2018.
Only one Republican, Sen. Mark Kirk voted in favor of both Democratic bills. Kirk is the only GOP Senator that has received anything lower than an A- rating from the NRA. Coincidentally, he has also not received money from gun groups. Kirk represents Illinois, and Chicago is one of the most gun-violent cities in the nation, with more than 1,780 people shot this year. He’s facing reelection in November.
Money from gun rights groups can be traced to the campaigns of all 53 Republican senators who voted against the measure. Over the course of these senators’ careers, the NRA has given a staggering $36,290,699.
One GOP senator, Kelly Ayotte from New Hapmshire, voted for Sen. Diane Feinstein’s bill, but against Chris Murphy’s. Ayotte’s approval ratings fell when she voted against expanding background checks after the 2010 Newtown shooting and is in a tight battle for reelection against Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan. She is now working with Sen. Susan Collins on yet another attempt at compromise.
“To get to that solution, we have to move this debate forward,” said Ayotte said on the Senate floor after voting. She has taken in $29,295 in contributions from gun groups.
Collins has received $19,800 from gun rights groups throughout her career.
Here are the other Republican senators who voted against the measures, and the amounts of money they have received from gun rights groups throughout their careers. Note that these are only direct contributions: the gun lobby spends millions of dollars in “outside spending,” or advertising and other efforts which cannot be legally coordinated directly with campaign committees.
John Cornyn (TX) $169,625
John Thune (SD) $159,705
Mitch McConnell (KY) $132,700
Roy Blunt (MO) $122,630
Jim Inhofe (OK) $121,850
Rand Paul (KY) $109,045
Dean Heller (NV) $104,265
Richard Burr (NC) $97,050
Richard Shelby (AL) $96,850
Pat Toomey (PA) $96,077
Cory Gardner (CO) $93,434
Lindsey Graham (SC) $90,866
Pat Roberts (KA) $90,150
Ted Cruz (TX) $89,579
David Vitter (LA) $79,748
Marco Rubio (FL) $77,139
John McCain (AZ) $76,225
Chuck Grassley (IA) $75,600
Mike Crapo (ID), $72,940
Steve Daines (MO) $72,680
Jeff Sessions (AL) $62,200
Roger Wicker (MI) $59,250
Shelley Capito (WV) $58,200
Ron Johnson (WI) $57,925
Bill Cassidy (LA) $57,153
Tom Cotton (AR) $55,189
Rob Portman (OH) $55,150
Thad Cochran (MI) $53,050
Jeff Flake (AZ) $46,200
John Barrasso (WY) $46,099
Jim Risch (ID) $44,200
Jerry Moran (KA) $43,850
Orrin Hatch (UT) $38,350
Mike Enzi (WY) $37,500
James Lankford (OK) $37,425
John Hoeven (ND), $35,700
Lamar Alexander (TN) $34,750
Lisa Murkowski (AK) $34,358
Johnny Isakson (GA) $33,400
Deb Fischer (NE) $31,100
Joni Ernst (IA) $28,700
Thom Tillies (NC) $28,700
Tim Scott (SC) $27,400
John Boozman (AR) $26,235
Dan Coats (IN) $22,900
Bob Corker (TN) $22,440
Mike Lee (UT) $21,500
Ben Sasse (NE) $20,307
David Perdue (GA) $17,150
Mike Rounds (SD) $17,100
Dan Sullivan (AK) $12,036
U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) (C) and Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) (R) speak to reporters after ending a 14-hour filibuster in the hopes of pressuring the U.S. Senate to action on gun control measures, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S. June 16, 2016. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst