Page 180 - Information and American Democracy Technology in the Evolution of Political Power

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Gun Control 18:0
Second Amendment and avoids public debates over crime and violence
in most cases. The organization is very effective with these techniques
at mobilizing its traditional membership. Its campaign donations are
also politically notorious. Research attempting to assess the influence of
NRA donations has a history of producing mixed results, but it is likely
that NRA giving does exert at least a marginal influence independently of
legislators’ ideology, prior positions on gun control, and other factors. 134
The dynamics of public opinion may lead to differing strategies for
donating versus lobbying by the NRA as well as by the Brady Campaign
and other gun-control advocates. Research by Laura Langbein shows that
the NRA’s donations tend strongly toward supporting the most conser-
vative, pro-gun legislators and often have the effect of reinforcing the
allegiance of the groups’ allies in Congress. 135 Historically, the donations
of Handgun Control also tended toward the strongest gun control sup-
porters. Lobbying efforts by both groups, on the other hand, have been
more likely to target moderates and swing voters. Langbein speculates
that the reason for this disparity is the greater visibility of donations, the
groups’ need to bolster and support their own memberships through
their donations, and the difficulty of explaining to their members dona-
tions to legislators with a moderate record. Public strategies of influence
tend to exacerbate polarization and policy conflict, while private strate-
gies tend to diminish them.
In light of these features of gun control politics in the United States,
the circumstances of the largest rally in U.S. history about gun control
come as a surprise. 136 On May 14, 2000, a group probably in excess of a
100,000 converged on the Washington Mall in support of stronger gun
control, along with a much smaller group that met as a countermarch. 137
Not Handgun Control, other gun control groups, or the NRA played
a role in these events. The May 14 march and countermarch took place
literally outside the influence of the dominant gun control organiza-
tions. The main event, called the Million Mom March, was successful
in attracting many participants – if not a full million – precisely because
it occurred outside the traditional organizational structure and policy

134 The same effect has been shown for Handgun Control. See Langbein and Lotwis,
“The Political Efficacy of Lobbying and Money.”
135
Laura I. Langbein, “PACs, Lobbies, and Political Conflict: The Case of Gun Control,”
Public Choice 77, no. 3 (1993): 551–572.
136
I find no reports of major gun control marches or rallies in Washington in the
academic literature.
137
Reliable counts of participants are not available.
163