Congressional voting behavior on firearm control legislation: 1993-2000

Firearm morbidity and mortality place an enormous burden on the health care enterprise and society at large. Recent research has shown strong public support for strategies to regulate firearms yet effective federal legislation to control the types of firearms sold, conditions of sale and purchase, limitation in transportation and storage, and responsibility for use of personally owned firearms has been limited. Thus the purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between Congressional voting on firearm control legislation and the following: political affiliation, military service, geographic location of representation, education level, sex, and gun rights and gun control contributions. This was accomplished using a retrospective assessment of Congressional voting records from the 103rd-106th Congresses (1993-2000) regarding firearm control legislation. The study found that $6,270,553 was donated to members of Congress, $5,394,049 to members of the House and $876,504 to members of the Senate by groups concerned with firearm legislation. In the House, males (Odds Ratio [OR], 3.87), Republicans (OR, 13), those from the South (OR, 5), and those who received gun rights funds (OR, 13 to 203, depending on level of donations) were more likely to vote pro gun rights. In the Senate, support for gun rights occurred more often for those from the West (OR, 3.56), Republicans (OR, 130.50), or those who had received gun rights donations (OR, 28.00). This study has found a strong and consistent relationship between a Congressional member's position on firearm legislation and the amount of money received, political affiliation, and geographic location of representation.