Jackson Emery/Unsplash
Chilling editorial in Newsweek after last week’s Evergreen shooting: Stanford Researchers analyzed 25 years of campaign finance data alongside every fatal K-12 school shooting since 2000. After fatal school shootings, pro-gun PAC contributions to House candidates in the affected district rise by over 30 percent. When the shooting occurs near an election, contributions surge by 1,730 percent.
Contributions spike dramatically in the two months preceding an election, precisely when candidates are most vulnerable and voters are most attentive. At any point in the eight months leading up to an election, contributions in the impacted district remain over 120 percent higher than in districts without a fatal school shooting. The gun lobby’s contributions help candidates remain silent and insulated at critical moments.
The researchers say their work gets to the heart of Congress’s inaction in the face of overwhelming public support for common-sense gun laws such as background checks, mandatory training, licensing, restrictions on magazine size, and safe-storage rules. “Just as public outrage begins to mount,” the authors write, “the gun lobby acts quickly to reinforce the status quo. The gun lobby uses this window of opportunity to step in and neutralize legislative action before sustained pressure builds.”
