NRA And Some Of Its Board Members Have Direct Financial Interests In Stopping Ban On High-Capacity Ammunition Magazines, Says VPC

WASHINGTON, Jan. 19, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Board members of the National Rifle Association and its affiliated organization the NRA Foundation, as well as the NRA's lobbying division, have a financial interest in allowing the continued sale of high-capacity ammunition magazines like those used in the Arizona mass shooting according to a just-released investigation by the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Public Integrity (CPI). The article, "High-Capacity Magazine Sellers Raise Millions for NRA," is available at http://www.publicintegrity.org/articles/entry/2839/.

Following release of the CPI investigation, Josh Sugarmann, executive director of the Violence Policy Center (VPC), stated, "The NRA's opposition to a ban on high-capacity magazines isn't about protecting millions of gun owners, but protecting millions of dollars for its board members and itself. Given that the NRA's coffers benefit directly from the sale of high-capacity ammunition magazines, it's easy to understand why the NRA opposes any proposal to regulate them."

The Center for Public Integrity investigation, with subsequent additional research by the Violence Policy Center, reveals the following:

-- NRA board member Pete Brownell owns Brownells Inc., which sells a wide-range of high-capacity ammunition magazines for pistols and assault weapons, including the same capacity Glock magazine as the 33-round magazine used in the Arizona shooting. Brownells also manufactures high-capacity ammunition magazines.

On his website supporting his campaign to join the NRA's board, Brownell states, "Having directors who intimately understand and work in leadership positions within the firearms industry ensures the NRA's focus is honed on the overall mission of the organization. These individuals bring a keen sense of the industry and of the bigger fight to the table." Brownells, which describes itself as the "world's largest supplier of firearms accessories and gunsmithing tools" also sponsors the NRA's National Youth Shooting Sports Ambassadors.