In the days after the Las Vegas mass shooting, in which 59 people were killed and hundreds injured, the political influence of the National Rifle Association's has once again become the center of the partisan tug-o'-war over gun control and Second Amendment rights.

As with most every mass shooting -- Orlando, San Bernadino, and Colorado Springs, to name the most recent -- a call for better federal gun control laws has followed.

"Unfortunately, the grip of the NRA on Congress is extremely strong," said former U.S. leader President Barack Obama in the wake of the Charleston mass shooting in June 2015. Hillary Cinton also weighed in to the issue: "We can and must put politics aside, stand up to the NRA, and work together to try to stop this from happening again," the former Secretary of State said.

In the 2014 election cycle, the amount of money given to elected GOP members and candidates soared to more than $32 million, while the Democrats share was crunched to almost nothing.

During that cycle, the NRA poured money into 46 Congressional races -- and got its desired result 72 percent of the time, according to a New York Daily News analysis.

And Alabama is no different. In fact, Senators and Representatives from the Yellowhammer state are among the top 10 states to receive contributions from the NRA between 1998 and 2016.



While the sums given may seem relatively small given that they are collated over nearly 20 years, they represent only a fraction of what the NRA spends on GOP candidates. For example, in the recent GOP runoff between Sen. Luther Strange and Judge Roy Moore, the NRA spent over $1.4 million on Strange's campaign. It also spent around $32,000 opposing Judge Moore, according to FEC data.

In February 2016, Sen. Richard Shelby received $278,672 from the NRA, accoridng to FEC filings.