Editor’s note: Letters to the Editor and open letters reflect the opinions, concerns and views of University of Wisconsin-Madison students and community, may or may not be accurate and do not reflect the editorial views or opinions of The Daily Cardinal
“The NRA” is a phrase that gets thrown around often when referring to legislation regarding firearms. When people use this phrase, however, they usually aren’t referring to the singular organization– The National Rifle Association– actually represented by the acronym, but rather a group of organizations more powerful and more sinister than any one organization could ever be: the gun lobby.
The gun lobby is a coalition of organizations that works to protect and expand access to firearms. It consists of organizations including the lobby arm of the NRA, Gun Owners of America, and the National Shooting Sports Foundation. Since 2022, the gun lobby has spent more than $200,000 on Wisconsin elections, supporting candidates whom it views as sympathetic to the interests of gun manufacturers. These candidates hail from both sides of the aisle, although dollars spent on Republican incumbents exponentially outweigh money spent on Democrats. Indeed, two Republican legislators up for re-election here in Wisconsin in November rank amongst the top most-funded by the gun lobby, receiving a combined total of more than $90,000 between 2022 and 2024. Funded candidates, eager to maintain access to this campaign money– which can reach near $100,000 for a single campaign– consequently cave to lobby interests, voting “as they are told” to keep the cash flowing.
In addition to funding sympathetic candidates, effectively buying them out, the gun lobby perpetuates messaging designed to influence through fear. Gun lobby organizations push a “slippery slope” narrative that tells Americans that any regulations on firearms will lead to total confiscation of firearms. They also suggest that the only way to fight this “slope” is by buying more guns and voting for candidates against firearm regulation.
In arguing against popular opinion by promoting greater and less regulated access to firearms, the gun lobby places the financial interest of gun manufacturers above the safety of Americans. The lobby just wants to sell more guns, regardless of the risks of flooding our streets with more and less controlled firearms. Students Demand Action is working to combat this: we believe that people matter more than profit and that safety outweighs special interests.
To best fight the gun lobby, we have to know what we’re up against. That’s why this legislative session Students Demand Action at UW-Madison is tracking the political behavior of twelve Wisconsin legislators: four of our United States Representatives and eight members of the state legislature. These legislators hail from both sides of the aisle and represent districts across the state, including areas of the UW-Madison campus. SDA is tracking the voting patterns, bill authorship, and public statements of these legislators. We’ll use this data to demonstrate how the gun lobby can influence elected officials, to the detriment of their constituents. Examining this relationship is especially important as Wisconsin heads into one of the most important midterm elections in state history.
Our student-run project will be active through November. If you want to stay up to date on the project, get involved in the fight to end gun violence, or learn more about SDA-UW, follow us on Instagram and Facebook at @studentsdemanduw. If social media isn’t your style, check out studentsdemandaction.org for access to more resources, information and opportunities to engage. There’s a place for everyone in this movement, and we look forward to fighting alongside you.
