NRA Raised $256 Million

With $256 million, you could buy a lot of ammo and votes. That's how much the National Rifle Association raised in 2012, it's most lucrative year since Barack Obama was elected president. Mass shootings certainly were not bad for business: the NRA raked in $73 million worth of contributions. Three individuals donated at least $3 million. (Membership dues are the rest of the purse.) The group spent $20 million on federal elections in 2012, which certainly was on the mind of the U.S. senators who voted down a plan for expanded background checks last April, which was introduced after the Sandy Hook massacre.