EXCLUSIVE: National Rifle Association donations soar to $96.4M, up 11.5%, after Newtown, Conn. school massacre

The money poured in for the NRA as Congress and
states, including New York, debated gun control
measures following the massacre in 2012 of 20
children and six instructors at Sandy Hook
Elementary School by a crazed gunman in
December 2012.

ALBANY — Donations to the National Rifle Association soared in the aftermath of the Newtown, Conn., school massacre, new filings show.

Contributions and grants to the NRA in 2013 totaled $96.4 million, up 11.5% from the $86.4 million raised the previous year, according to the latest financial disclosure form filed by the gun group with the IRS.

The money poured in as Congress and states, including New York, debated gun control measures following the massacre in 2012 of 20 children and six instructors at Sandy Hook Elementary School by a crazed gunman in December 2012.

“It’s very perverse,” said Leah Gunn Barrett, executive director of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence. “Most Americans would have a visceral reaction toward those numbers following a tragedy where 20 (kids) were slaughtered.”

The donations grew even as the NRA, headed by Wayne LaPierre, actually spent less on professional fund-raising fees. In 2013, the organization spent $7.2 million on professional fund-raisers, down from $8.5 million in 2012.  READ MORE