Gun-regulation groups rebuilding after NRA dominance

[jpak]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/01/13/gun-regulation-groups/1823735/

WASHINGTON — Since their early 1990s successes with laws banning assault weapons and requiring background checks for gun purchases, groups favoring gun regulations have been consistently outmaneuvered in Congress and outspent during political campaigns.

That may be changing. In the wake of the Dec. 14 mass shooting in Newtown, Conn., pro-regulation groups have raised more money, recruited more members and attracted more public attention than they have in years. They're also combining those gains with the first active support from the White House since President Clinton signed the assault weapons ban in 1994. For example:

Mayors Against Illegal Guns, led by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, has added 500,000 new members and 90 mayors in the weeks since the Newtown shooting, said Mark Glaze, the group's director. Former representative Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head and seriously wounded in a January 2011 shooting in Tucson that killed six, started a new super PAC, Americans for Responsible Solutions, aimed at supporting political candidates who favor "common sense" measures on guns.

Steve Mostyn, a Houston trial lawyer, said he was donating $1 million to Giffords' group and expects other to join him. Mostyn gave $4 million to Priorities USA Action, the super PAC that backed President Obama's re-election last year.National Education Association members head to Capitol Hill next month and will ask lawmakers for "multi-pronged … and common sense measures that will help prevent" gun violence, according to Kim Anderson, the senior director of the NEA's Center for Advocacy and Outreach.

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[samsingh]

1. kick

[hack89]

2. I wouldn't start your happy dance until you actually have some results.

Let me know when John Boehner comes out in support of gun control.

[iiibbb]

4. Remember that presidential election that guy Romney thought he bought?

[Glaug-Eldare]

3. Phew, now I don't have to wonder which mayors are felons.

I can just read the MAIG member list and keep a safe distance!