2A Orgs Outspending Gun Control Groups In GA Elections

Early voting has already started in the Georgia runoff elections that will determine control of the U.S. Senate for the next two years, and voters in state are hearing far more from pro-Second Amendment organizations than gun control groups at the moment.

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CNBC reports that groups like the National Rifle Association and Gun Owners of America are spending heavily in the state in the weeks before the January 5th election, but gun control groups like Everytown for Gun Safety, which spent tens of millions of dollars in the 2020 election cycle, have been mostly quiet in Georgia.

Since Nov. 15, the NRA’s political arm has spent more than $2.2 million in independent expenditures such as billboards, ads, postcards, texting and canvassing that support Perdue and Loeffler or oppose Ossoff and Warnock, according to Federal Election Commission data.

“The NRA has spent millions with more to come,” NRA spokeswoman Amy Hunter said in an email.

Other gun rights groups have also invested in outside spending for the Senate runoff races, FEC data show. Gun Owners of America has spent more than $126,000 on ads, emails and text messages supporting Loeffler and Perdue. Gun Rights America, the super PAC of the National Association for Gun Rights, has spent more than $22,000 on digital advertising and voter contact by phone, mail and text that opposes Warnock and Ossoff. A PAC called God, Guns & Life has spent more than $36,000 on ads supporting the Republican senators.

On the anti-gun side, CNBC notes that Brady PAC has dropped about $100,000 on a digital ad attacking Kelly Loeffler and supporting Raphael Warnock, but that’s been the only real spending by any gun control group in the Senate elections.

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Later today Everytown for Gun Safety, Giffords, and Moms Demand Action are holding a “virtual rally” for both Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, where they’re hoping to raise $100,000 for the their campaigns. The gun control groups also say that while they’re not spending on advertising, they’re engaged in voter outreach and turnout efforts.

“After a year of saturated airwaves, Georgians know what the candidates in this race represent, so the election is going to come down to turnout. We’ve got one of the largest, most active, and effective grassroots networks in the country — that’s why we’re focused on connecting with voters and wearing out our shoes, our keyboards, and our dial-pads,” said Andrew Zucker, a spokesperson for Everytown.

As of Dec. 16, Everytown and Moms Demand Action reported their volunteer network has made at least 115,000 voter contacts in Georgia for the Ossoff and Warnock campaigns through phone banking, text banking, canvassing, sending postcards and distributing literature.

That’s a change in tactics for the Left since the general election, when gun control groups spent far more money and effort on digital ads than voter contacts, only to fail to achieve any real victories at the state level. 2A groups, meanwhile, are engaged in voter outreach as well, with gun owners across the state engaged in both face-to-face and remote contacts with voters.

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The Georgia senate races are going to be closely contested, and turnout is expected to be high on both sides. For those who care about their Second Amendment rights the choice is clear; both Warnock and Ossoff back Joe Biden’s gun ban plans, while David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler back the right of the people to keep and bear arms. Since the outcome of the elections will determine who controls the U.S. Senate for the next two years, gun owners in Georgia can’t afford to sit out this election, even if their concerns about voter fraud and stolen elections haven’t been addressed to their satisfaction.

Stay home and you guarantee that anti-gun activists will win. Vote and we’ve got a chance to defeat them. Ultimately, it’s really that simple, and I’m hopeful that Georgia’s gun owners are getting that message loud and clear.

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