The NRA’s congressional operation is so effective that one of the gun lobby’s most outspoken critics, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), initially signed on as a sponsor of the NRA-supported background check bill. Blumenthal said he had no direct contact with the NRA when he signed on to the measure but had been drawn by the idea of a bipartisan initiative to improve background checks.
On Friday, Blumenthal withdrew his support, saying in an interview that he was no longer comfortable with the bill because of “serious unintended consequences” related to provisions governing the mentally ill.
The NRA strategy has stretched into the states, as well. For instance, the group dispatched a lobbyist to Minnesota for much of the past three months because lawmakers there were considering expanded background checks and other measures…
Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.), a hunter and gun owner who had been tasked by party leaders to design a strategy to woo NRA members into backing gun-control measures, said in an interview that his efforts have been frustrated in part by overreaching from the left. Some of the people he had hoped to win over now recite the NRA’s oft-broadcast concerns about government intrusion into the private rights of citizens. Thompson said a new ammunition tax and record-keeping proposal moving in the California Legislature is giving even his constituents pause.
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