Sunlight is the Best Disinfectant

Another mass shooting, and this one is being called "terrorism," even though (like the attack in France a couple of weeks ago) it was done by a U.S. citizen and his wife.  This year we've had more "mass shootings" (381) than we've had days (339 as I write this).

Like a lot of people, I'm getting really tired of Congress' total lack of action on gun control, even the simplest and most obvious action of required background checks for gun purchase.  They even refuse to lift the ban on research on the public health effects of gun usage.  They even refuse to ban people on the no-fly list from buying guns!  What??

So I got curious about who's paying them for this, and went to maplight.com.  I found the following really depressing numbers.  Maplight lists 2 categories of funding under Interest Groups:

Gun Control (Anti-Guns) and Gun Rights (Pro-Guns).

The total amount donated to "gun control" members of Congress between the dates shown below was $9,750.  Not even five figures!  Here's the breakdown of the top amounts donated.  These numbers affected votes on 40 different bills during the 114th Congress.

Top Senate Recipients Funded

Recipient	Amount
Edward J. Markey	$2,500
Joe Manchin, III	$2,000
Kirsten E. Gillibrand	$1,000
Jeff Merkley	$500
Tim Kaine	$250

Contributions shown for the last six years of available data, Apr 1, 2009 - Mar 31, 2015, including contributions to presidential campaigns.

Top House Recipients Funded

Recipient	Amount
Ann M. Kuster	$1,500
Elizabeth H. Esty	$1,000

Contributions shown for the last two years of available data, Apr 1, 2013 - Mar 31, 2015, including contributions to presidential campaigns.  

The list above represents all the members of Congress who got any pro-gun funding in the periods shown.

The total amount donated to "gun rights" members of Congress between the dates shown below was $2,754,455.  The breakdown on who got what is too big to display here.  Here is link to the full list:  

All congress members receiving gun rights funding over the last 2 years

Take a look at the list.  Find your representatives.  I'm happy to say that neither of my senators is on the list, nor is my member of Congress.  Numbers for the Senate show the last 6 years; numbers for the House, the last 2.  I urge you to go to Maplight, look up your representatives, and see who is funding them.  And let them know that you did this.  As long as we allow these numbers to stay quietly in the shadows, the current situation will continue.