The National Rifle Association's political action committee outraised its major gun-control rivals again in May, Federal Election Commission records show.
The NRA's Political Victory Fund, the gun-rights group's PAC, raised $1,164,540.23 in the month of May. That's nearly $325,000 more than the top three gun-control PACs combined. It is also, however, a retreat of $687,783.05 from the NRA PAC's April fundraising total.
Though still raising significantly less than the NRA, gun-control PACs from Giffords and Everytown for Gun Safety both saw increases in their fundraising totals over April. Giffords brought in $804,821.74, which is $151,311.21 more than the previous month. Everytown brought in $35,077.30, which is $18,524.97 more than the previous month. The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence Voter Education Fund, which raised $4,015.00 in April, did not have a filing available for May on the FEC website.
The NRA PAC raised the majority of its money, $977,260.77, from small donors who gave less than $200. The other $187,279.41 came from those who gave more than $200. It spent $84,821.50 in May and ended the month with $8,697,964.23 cash on hand. Giffords spent $536,234.38 in May and ended the month with $6,182,515.90 cash on hand. Everytown spent $10,458.66 in May and ended the month with $85,752.11 cash on hand.
The debate over new gun control on the federal level has dissipated over the last few months with no significant gun-control legislation garnering substantial support. Though a number of states, including those with Republican governors, had adopted strict new gun-control measures in February and March, pressure for new gun-control laws at the state level has also waned. While gun-related background checks have remained at record levels, media and political attention surrounding guns has diminished. The lower level of interest in the issue may explain in part why money flowing into gun-related PACs has slowed.