If we're talking money and influence, take a look at drug companies:

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/health/drugs/2005-04-25-drug-lobby-cover_x.htm


>Daniel,
>
>>>Sure those are all cases that have to be examined, but if two men were fighting with guns and you want to end the fight what do you do ?
>>
>>Stay the hell out of the way, that's what I'd do. But are we talking about a homeowner defending himself, a police officer firing in the line of duty, or what? Gun fights are rare, much rarer than television would have you believe.
>>
>>>No matter what you are going to say, you can't tell me that guns improve security.
>>
>>I can for a fact tell you they do. I have seen, with my own eyes, an incident where having a firearm stopped a crime from happening. And, if I had been alert on another occasion, could have stopped one myself.
>
>Again, You can't draw conclusions on incidents. Statistics is what we need.
>
>
>>>The gun lobby is taking the easy route, by just blaming anything else, but the guns. A rather hypocritical stance, or better, a commercial stance. The weapon lobby will do anything to cause confusion and tell you in all ways: it is not the gun. Not because they are right, but just they have an awfull lot to lose.
>>
>>Define for me please the "gun lobby". The NRA? I'm the NRA - a life member, in fact. I pay them to defend my rights as a gun owner.
>
>
>and they pay political parties: http://www.opensecrets.org/news/guns/
>
>If lawmakers are guilty of tiptoeing around gun control issues, it is because the NRA and other gun rights groups wield an enormous amount of influence in Washington. The source of that influence is money. Gun rights groups have given more than $17 million in individual, PAC and soft money contributions to federal candidates and party committees since 1989. Nearly $15 million, or 85 percent of the total, has gone to Republicans. The National Rifle Association is by far the gun rights lobby's biggest donor, having contributed more than $14 million over the past 15 years. Gun control advocates, meanwhile, contribute far less money than their rivals -- a total of nearly $1.7 million since 1989, of which 94 percent went to Democrats. The leading contributor among gun control advocates is the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, formerly known as Handgun Control, which has given $1.5 million over the past 15 years.
>
>Walter,