Donor No. 39: NRA Political Victory Fund

Donor No. 39: National Rifle Association Political Victory Fund - $64,750

By Sylvia Moore

Campaign donations are among the weapons that the National Rifle Association uses to protect what it sees as citizens’ fundamental right to carry firearms.

The NRA Political Victory Fund gives financial support to lawmakers who agree with the group’s positions. The association was the No. 39 contributor to General Assembly members during the 1999 election cycle.

The group gave $64,750 to 33 Virginia legislators: $51,000 to 21 House members and $13,750 to 12 senators.

Of the total, $44,750 went to 22 Republicans and $20,000 to 11 Democrats.

The NRA contends that citizens are safer when armed. Since states enacted laws allowing people to carry concealed weapons, murders have fallen by 8.5 percent, rapes by 5 percent and aggravated assaults by 7 percent, according a study by the group.

Many parents, teachers and other Virginians are pushing for laws to keep guns out of schools and restaurants and out of the hands of stalkers and felons. The NRA fears that such measures would penalize law-abiding citizens.

Those bills have been a subject of debate before the House Militia and Police Committee.

"Parents send their children to a public school and expect them to be in a gun-free environment," said Pam Pouchot, who chairs the Virginia Committee for Gun-Free Schools.

But Tom Evans, a lobbyist for the NRA, said, "The only way to control crime is by controlling criminals instead of trying to control the tools they use, which other people use."

The Militia and Police Committee consistently has sided with the NRA. It rejected legislation to ban guns from schools and from county-owned buildings.

The panel also defeated a bill to provide safety locks on guns for those who requested them. NRA lobbyists argued that safety locks, like medicine caps or bleach bottle tops, were not foolproof, and legislators doubted funding for the locks would be available.

Jason Jones, a legal aide for the National Rifle Association, said the Senate passed legislation that would protect gun manufacturers from lawsuits stemming from the use of firearms in crimes.

Jones said the NRA’s political action committee provides donations based on the interest politicians show in the group.

Top recipients included:

House Speaker S. Vance Wilkins Jr., R-Amherst - $22,500.
Delegate C. Richard Cranwell, D-Vinton - $10,000.
Delegate Jay K. Katzen, R-Warrenton; Delegate Richard Black, R-Sterling; Delegate Roger J. McClure, R-Centreville; Sen. John S. Edwards, D-Roanoke; and Sen. Stephen D. Newman, R-Lynchburg - $2,000 each.

McClure co-chairs the House Militia and Police Committee, and Katzen is a member. Six other committee members received money from the NRA during the 1999 election cycle:

Delegate John H. Tate Jr., D-Marion, got $1,500. And the NRA gave $1,000 each to H. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem; Johnny S. Joannou, D-Portsmouth; Terry G. Kilgore, R-Gate City; John A. Rollinson III, R-Woodbridge; and Beverly J. Sherwood, R-Winchester.

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