In the wake of the Sandy Hook school shooting we all knew that an impending gun debate would be a hard fought battle. Just after this week’s hearing on Capitol Hill, a new Forbes study finds that the NRA is winning the influence battle over gun control. In the new study performed by Forbes Insights, an independent and unbiased organization, they found that the “NRA and the pro-gun rights voices are winning the influence battle and will continue to be strong and more influential if the pro gun control voice remains fragmented”.

The data was compiled from the week before the school shooting and follows the trends over the following 5 weeks. There are some important pieces of information gathered from this study that are important to note:

1. The Republican politicians are not part of this debate. Instead, many solely have their eyes on the NRA and its president, Wayne LaPierre. Of the top 25 stakeholders in the gun control debate, only one is a Republican politician, Chris Christie.

2. The pro-gun rights voice is gaining influence while the gun-control voice is losing influence. The shifting platform is favoring those who support gun rights and the gun-control advocates are losing their influence.

3. The fragmented voice of the gun-control advocates is hurting their cause. “Of the top influencers on the pro-gun rights side, the majority of the most prominent voices are from the NRA. The pro-gun control voice is split between Obama and several gun control advocacy groups which dilutes the message.”

Clearly, if the NRA and the gun-rights advocates want to keep winning the debate, they need to stick together and keep the other side divided. Wayne LaPierre has provided a lot of information and options to help provide safety for our children. The gun-control groups instead simply want to infringe on the American people’s right to bear arms and protect themselves and their families.

The American people are hearing the pro-gun lobby louder and what the NRA is advocating is speaking to people.