The National Rifle Association pumps more campaign cash into New York than any other state in the country, part of a near decade-long effort to keep a bill that would require bullet casing microstamps off the table indefinitely.
The NRA has doled out more than $217,000 to New York legislators and committees over the last nine years, the largest total it has given to politics in any particular state in that period, according to the Daily News.
Nearly half of the monies came after the 2010 defeat of the mayor’s microstamping bill, which would require bullet casings be uniquely marked.
Supporters of the proposal say it would help keep illegal guns off the streets and make it easier to identify shooters. Critics say it would cost too much money and the markings would be subject to tampering by criminals that wound render the entire effort ineffective.
Democrats tried to pass the measure in 2010 but weren’t able to secure the 32 votes needed to push it through. They blame NRA lobbying.
Republicans dismiss that argument, pointing out that Bloomberg himself, not the NRA, is the single biggest donor to the GOP Senate.
The NRA declined the News’ requests for comment.
According to the News, GOP Sens. Joseph Robach of Rochester and Thomas Libous of Binghamton have benefited the most from NRA donations over the years. They also declined the paper’s requests for comment.
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