FACT BRIEF

Does the NRA expect the candidates it supports to oppose an assault weapons ban?

Sunday, July 17, 2022

By Austin Tannenbaum

Copy link

Copy featured image

YES

The National Rifle Association financially supports candidates with pro-gun records and stances, with the expectation that they will advocate against gun control legislation in office.

The endorsement policy of its political action committee—the National Rifle Association Political Victory Fund—states, "NRA has a pro-gun incumbent-friendly policy that dictates our support for pro-gun incumbents seeking reelection." The PAC evaluates the voting records of incumbents and then grades them on gun friendliness from "A" to "F." A questionnaire designed by the PAC is used to grade non-incumbents. Its 2022 questionnaire asks whether the candidate supports "a ... ban on semi-automatic firearms" similar to the one President Clinton signed into law in 1994 (which expired in 2004).

NRA-PVF receives the majority of its funding from small membership dues and donations, although the PAC does receive millions of dollars from the firearm industry.

One hundred percent of the candidates NRA-PVF has donated to so far in 2022 are Republicans, reflecting the party's strong Second Amendment stance.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

NRA-PVF Endorsement Policy

Wes Tripp for House 2022 NRA-PVF North Carolina Candidate Questionnaire

WRAL (Raleigh NC) Fact-checking Gillibrand's claim NRA 'is largely funded' by gun makers

Open Secrets National Rifle Association Profile: Recipients

ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR

Gigafact

Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

FACT BRIEF BY

Latest fact briefs

About fact briefs published on Gigafact

Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.