Debate Magazine

Gun Control Outspent Gun Rights in 2013

Posted on the 04 January 2014 by Mikeb302000
An ad from Mayors Against Illegal Gun Violence

Advertising Age

In the year after the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., gun-control groups spent $14.1 million on TV advertising. According to Kantar Media's CMAG, that gave such groups a seven to one advantage over gun-rights organizations, which only spent $1.9 million.

At the same time, gun-rights groups, led by the National Rifle Association, spent about $6.2 million on lobbying instead of advertising, according to a study by the Sunlight Foundation. The gun-rights groups may have had the better tactic -- especially in a quiet election year. White House efforts to strengthen gun-control laws went nowhere. Watered-down legislation to broaden FBI background checks of gun buyers failed in the Senate. And the GOP-controlled House did not even consider addressing gun-control legislation.

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