Political Victory Fund

The Political Victory Fund (NRA-PVF) is the political action committee (PAC) of the National Rifle Association of America (NRA). Founded in 1976, the Fund endorses political candidates on behalf of the NRA and contributes money to those candidate's campaigns. ^{[1] [2] [3]} It maintains a rating system which awards grades to political candidates based on their support or opposition of gun control measures.

Background

The NRA-PVF was established in 1976 as an NRA subsidiary and registered as a political action committee (PAC). ^[4]

The NRA-PVF operates a rating system for political candidates that assesses their support for gun-rights. It also helps its members locate an NRA Election Volunteer Coordinator (EVC) for their area and to register to vote. ^{[5] [4] [6]}

History

President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Gun Control Act of 1968 into law.

Until the 1960s, the NRA had often downplayed gun control issues, even backing some minor legislation. With passage of the Gun Control Act of 1968, an increasing number of NRA members, became more involved in gun politics and gun rights. Along with the creation of its lobbying arm, the Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA), with activist Harlon Carter as director, in 1976 the NRA established its non-partisan political action committee (PAC), the Political Victory Fund, in time for the 1976 elections. ^{[7] [8] : 158}

The NRA-PVF endorsed Ronald Reagan in the 1980 presidential campaign, the first NRA presidential endorsement. ^{[9] [10] : 844}

By 1998, the NRA-PVF ranked as "one of the biggest spenders in congressional elections". ^{[11] : 158}

In the 2004 elections, 95% of the NRA-PVF endorsed federal candidates and 86% of the endorsed state candidates were elected. ^[12]

By 2008, during the elections, the PVF spent millions "on direct campaign donations, independent campaign expenditures and on mobilizing the most aggressive grassroots operation in NRA history." ^[13] In 2012, NRA-PVF income was $14.4 million and expenses were $16.1 million. ^[14] By 2014, the NRA-PVF income rose to $21.9 million with expenses of $20.7 million. ^[15]

Rating political candidates

Through the Political Victory Fund, the NRA began to rate political candidates "irrespective of party affiliation - based on voting records, and public statements" on their positions on gun rights ^[16] on a point scale of A+ to F. ^[4] An NRA "A+" candidate, such as Todd Tiahrt, is one who has "not only an excellent voting record on all critical NRA issues, but who has also made a vigorous effort to promote and defend the Second Amendment", whereas an NRA "F" candidate is a "true enemy of gun owners' rights". ^[17] Since 2010 the NRA-PVF has taken an increasingly hard line on ratings, with the result that by the 2020 US elections there was only one Democrat candidate left with a top "A" rating - down from 25% of Democrat candidates in 2010. ^[18] By 2022, no Democrat received a top grade. ^[19]

Mike Spies, who has been reporting on the gun lobby since 2015, wrote a series called "The Gunfighters", which investigated the influence of the National Rifle Association (NRA) on state gun policy and politics. ^[20] In his March 17, 2016 article published in The Trace , Mike Spies described how the NRA began to use their scoring system to influence judicial nominations. The first attempt was during the confirmation proceedings of Supreme Court justice Sonia Sotomayor in 2009 at the request of Mitch McConnell and again in 2010 with Elena Kagan. In 2011, the NRA opposed Caitlin Halligan's nomination to the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and as a result, Senate Republicans blocked her confirmation. In 2016, the NRA opposed the nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court because he did not "respect the individual right to bear arms" - in 2007, Garland had "cast a vote in favor of allowing his court to review a crucial opinion by a three-judge panel that had found D.C.’s handgun ban unconstitutional." ^[21] This article was cited in The Second Amendment and Gun Control: Freedom, Fear, and the American Constitution which presented both sides of the debate between those who "favour more gun controls and those who would prefer fewer of them." ^[22]

Chairman

Chris W. Cox served as the NRA's chief lobbyist and principal political strategist between 2002 and 2019. ^{[23] [24]} In this role he also served as the NRA-PVF chairman, and "has directed NRA’s electoral efforts at every level." ^[16] There were some internal disputes that led to Cox's departure. NRA-Watch Group transcribed the highlighted details in the deposition that Cox testified in about the revolving details about his departure and resignation as Chairman of the PAC. It was rumored by the New York Times ^[25] that Cox was interested in plotting a coup of the CEO Wayne Lapierre because of his financial misconduct. However, during Cox's testimony he found it, "not only false, but offensive". ^[26] His testimony was a part of the Public Relations Firm (Advertisers) Ackerman McQueen lawsuit against the NRA, in 2021. In May 2023, Randy Kozuch was named the interim Executive Director of the NRA Chief Lobbyist, who previously worked with the NRA-ILA for almost 30 years. ^[27]

References

1. Richard Lardner (March 5, 2018). "How the NRA flexes its political muscle". PBS. Washington. Associated Press. Archived from the original on March 5, 2018.
2. Wayne King (August 23, 1992). "N.R.A. Is Politically Armed and, to Florio, Dangerous" . New York Times . Trenton. Archived from the original on March 9, 2018.
3. Tobias Roemer (20 December 2023). "School shootings increase NRA donations". Science Advances . 9 (51). American Association for the Advancement of Science. doi:10.1126/sciadv.adi75. ISSN   2375-2548. OCLC   892343396.
4. Cox, Chris W. (August 26, 2010). "NRA Political Victory Fund: Making Endorsements Count". National Rifle Association of America. Archived from the original on 2013-10-14. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
5. "NRA-ILA: Election Center". National Rifle Association of America Institute for Legislative Action. 2014. Retrieved 2014-06-05.
6. "NRA-ILA: Election Center". National Rifle Association of America Institute for Legislative Action. 2014. Retrieved 2014-06-05.
7. Vizzard, William J. (2000). Shots in the Dark: The Policy, Politics, and Symbolism of Gun Control. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 288. ISBN   978-0-8476-9560-7.
8. Shaiko, Ronald G.; Wallace, Marc A. (1998). "Going Hunting Where the Ducks Are: The National Rifle Association and the Grass Roots". In Bruce, John M.; Wilcox, Clyde (eds.). The Changing Politics of Gun Control. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN   0-8476-8615-9. OCLC   833118449 . Retrieved 2014-04-08.
9. Schmidt, Gina M. "100 Years: Remembering President Ronald Reagan". National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action. Archived from the original on 2013-02-18. Retrieved 2013-02-02.
10. Facts on File 1980 Yearbook, p.844
11. Bruce, John M.; Wilcox, Clyde, eds. (1998). The Changing Politics of Gun Control. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield. pp. 158–59. ISBN   0-8476-8614-0. OCLC   833118449.
12. "National Rifle Association | Political Victory Fund". Archived from the original on 2007-10-11. Retrieved 2007-09-09.
13. "NRA-PVF: About PVF". National Rifle Association Political Victory Fund. 2015. Retrieved 2015-04-14.
14. "National Rifle Assn Spending by Cycle: 2012 PAC Summary Data". Open Secrets. Center for Responsible Politics. 2015. Retrieved 2015-03-10.
15. "National Rifle Assn Spending by Cycle: 2014 PAC Summary Data". Open Secrets. Center for Responsible Politics. 2015. Retrieved 2015-03-10.
16. "About". NRA. nd. Archived from the original on March 4, 2018. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
17. Lowes, Robert (2014-03-11). "NRA Opposes Surgeon General Nominee Vivek Murthy". Medscape. WebMD. Retrieved 2014-06-09.(subscription required)
18. Daniel Nass (September 9, 2020). "A Democrat with an 'A' Grade from the NRA? There's One Left". thetrace.org. The Trace. Archived from the original on September 9, 2020. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
19. Maggie Astor (September 22, 2022). "For First Time in at Least 25 Years, No Democrat Has Top Grade From N.R.A." The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 22, 2022. Retrieved 16 August 2023. The Democratic break from the National Rifle Association is complete: For the first time in at least 25 years, not a single Democrat running for Congress anywhere in the country received an A in the group's candidate ratings, which were once a powerful influence in U.S. elections.
20. "NRA-Backed Gun Laws Have Found Success In State Legislatures Across The U.S". NPR. 5 October 2017. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
21. Spies, Mike (17 March 2016). "The NRA's New Playbook for Making Gun-Grabbers Out of Democratic Nominees". The Trace. Retrieved 20 February 2018. The gun-rights group mines the histories of the president's judicial nominees for anything that resembles a stance on firearms, and finds a way to use it against them.
22. Yuill, Kevin; Street, Joe (12 September 2017). The Second Amendment and Gun Control: Freedom, Fear, and the American Constitution. Routledge. p. 159. ISBN   9781351783347.
23. NRA-ILA News Release; 1 January 2005; "NRA-ILA :: Releases". Archived from the original on October 3, 2007. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
24. Katie Zezima; Beth Reinhard (June 26, 2019). "NRA's top lobbyist resigns amid chaos at the gun rights organization". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on June 26, 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
25. "N.R.A. Suspends Second-in-Command, Implicating Him in Coup Attempt". The New York Times. 2019-06-20. Retrieved 2023-10-03.
26. "Deposition of Former NRA Chief Lobbyist Chris Cox". NRA Watch. 2022-03-30. Retrieved 2023-10-03.
27. "NRA Appoints Randy Kozuch as Interim NRA-ILA Executive Director". National Rifle Association of America. Archived from the original on March 16, 2023. Retrieved 2023-10-03.