NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. gun-control advocates have outspent by more than 40 percent gun-rights groups on next month’s congressional elections, reversing the National Rifle Association’s longstanding dominance in spending on gun politics.
Boosted largely by the personal fortune of billionaire Michael Bloomberg, who is considering a 2020 presidential run, the gun-control war chest almost entirely benefits Democrats, who are seeking to wrest majorities from the Republicans in the House of Representatives and Senate in the Nov. 6 elections.
Graphic: U.S. gun-control spending - tmsnrt.rs/2PhSBxV[1]
Gun-control groups, including Giffords and Everytown for Gun Safety, have spent $20.2 million on the elections, well over the $14.1 million spent by pro-gun groups led by the NRA, according to data released on Friday by the U.S. Federal Election Commission.
So far, it marks the first time in at least two decades that gun-control groups have outspent gun-rights groups on federal races, though gun-control groups have outspent gun-rights advocates in state elections in recent years, according to data compiled by the National Institute on Money in Politics.
“There is definitely a shift,” said Peter Ambler, the executive director of Giffords, formed by gunshot survivor and former U.S. Representative Gabby Giffords after the mass shooting in December 2012 that killed 20 school children in Connecticut. “It was just a few years ago when people considered gun safety to be one of politics’ third rails. Now the opposite is true.”
The FEC report covers federal campaign spending through Oct. 17 and will be the last public report before the Nov. 6 vote.
The NRA
