Webster, Daniel W., et al. chapter 19,  “Updated Evidence and Policy Developments on Reducing Gun Violence in America”, Edited by Jon S. Vernick and Daniel W. Webster, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2018, pages (36-39)

This chapter discusses a survey that found most Americans, including gun owners, supported strict gun laws after the Sandy Hook shooting. These gun laws included more detailed background checks and limiting who guns get sold to, like people with mental illnesses. Still, even after all the support from the public, those policies never became real because the pro-gun NRA was extremely well funded by people who supported it, so members of Congress were getting funded based on their support to strict or lose gun laws if they supported loose gun laws they would get funded more so the law never passed because it didn’t get enough votes, even though most Americans supported strict gun laws so we can make America safer. This chapter would greatly support my paper because it shows the reasoning behind why a lot of states are not passing strict gun control laws even though most Americans want them to, it also shows the business side of guns and how strict gun control laws would negatively affect the money made from selling and maintaining guns.

• We found that large majorities of Americans—including gun owners and Republicans—supported a wide range of gun policies, including policies to enhance the background check system for gun sales, to prohibit certain dangerous persons (e.g., those convicted of a serious juvenile crime) from having guns, to institute greater oversight of gun dealers, and to prevent people with mental illness from having guns. ( Webster 36)
• in the gun policy arena, interest groups in favor of strengthening gun laws—like the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence—have historically been out- funded by the pro-gun NRA, which receives significant funding from gun manufacturers and is commonly acknowledged as one of the most powerful (Webster 37)
• the NRA spent more than $24 million on political contributions, lobbying, advertising, and other communication activities intended to influence policy outcomes.4 The NRA exerts direct political power over members of Congress by grading them based on their gun policy votes and by funding their (or their opponents’) campaigns (Webster 38)