Gun Control Groups To Match NRA Spending In Midterm Elections

WASHINGTON — Gun control groups say this is the year they finally go toe-to-toe with the National Rifle Association and match their foe’s imposing campaign spending for congressional candidates.

Their long-awaited financial parity with the gun lobby, however, underscores the importance of timing in politics. Firearms violence has faded as a top tier public concern, a turnabout from the issue’s high profile immediately following the December 2012 massacre of 20 first-graders and six aides at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

The subject barely registers in polling that shows voters far more focused on the economy and terrorism. This week’s Associated Press-GfK poll showed fewer than 1 percent of likely voters named guns as the nation’s top issue — a view that many House and Senate contests reflect.

“I can’t think of one race where the gun issue has been prominent in any way,” said Democratic pollster John Anzalone, who is involved in two dozen congressional campaigns.

That isn’t stopping each side in the gun debate from planning to pump tens of millions of dollars into this fall’s races. There are numerous close contests, particularly for seats in a Senate that both parties hope to control next year.

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http://washington.cbslocal.com/2014/10/02/gun-control-groups-plan-to-match-nra-spending-in-midterm-elections/