Table of reported annual revenue for major gun control and gun-rights organizations from IRS Form 990 filings

Who Funds Gun Control Groups

Who Funds Gun Control Groups: Where the Money Comes From

National gun control organizations raise and spend tens of millions of dollars a year on advocacy, litigation, research and elections. Much of that activity is documented in public records: IRS Form 990 filings for nonprofits, Federal Election Commission (FEC) reports for political committees, and the groups’ own announcements.

This page summarizes what those records show about the largest groups, who has been publicly reported as funding them, and how their finances compare with major gun-rights organizations. All figures are as reported, with the year of each filing. Some groups are split into several legal entities, and money can move between affiliates, so adding entities together can overstate the total.

This page is educational and is not legal or financial advice.

Table of reported annual revenue for major gun control and gun-rights organizations from IRS Form 990 filings

The Major Organizations

Most national groups operate as a family of entities. The legal type matters for donor disclosure. A 501(c)(3) charity can take tax-deductible donations but is limited in lobbying and may not campaign for candidates. A 501(c)(4) social welfare group can lobby without limit and do some political work; donations are not tax-deductible. Neither type has to make its donors public (donors are reported to the IRS, but names are withheld from public copies). PACs and super PACs register with the FEC and must publicly itemize donors who give more than $200.

  • Everytown for Gun Safety launched on April 16, 2014, bringing together Mayors Against Illegal Guns (co-founded in 2006 by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former Boston Mayor Tom Menino) and Moms Demand Action, founded the day after the Newtown shooting. The network also includes Students Demand Action and the litigation arm Everytown Law. The Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund, a 501(c)(4), reported $57.1 million in revenue for 2024 ($60.7 million in 2023). The Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, a 501(c)(3), reported $37.3 million for 2024. Everytown also runs a PAC and a super PAC, the Everytown for Gun Safety Victory Fund.
  • Giffords grew out of Americans for Responsible Solutions, formed after the December 2012 Sandy Hook shooting by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. In 2016 it merged with the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, founded in 1993. Giffords, the 501(c)(4), reported $17.6 million in revenue for 2024; the 501(c)(3) Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence reported $11.5 million for 2024. Giffords PAC handles election work.
  • Brady (now branded Brady United) traces to 1974, when it was founded as the National Council to Control Handguns. Its entities took the Brady name in 2000, after Jim and Sarah Brady. The 501(c)(3) Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence reported $17.8 million in revenue for the fiscal year ending June 2025, and the 501(c)(4) Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence reported $4.8 million for the same year. Brady also operates a PAC.

Major Funders

Because 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) groups do not publish donor lists, much of what is known about funders comes from the donors’ own announcements, foundation reports and FEC filings.

  • Michael Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor and Everytown’s founder, said at Everytown’s April 2014 launch that he would spend at least $50 million that year on the effort, through Everytown and his own expenditures. In 2018 PBS NewsHour reported that he was spending about $120 million on that year’s midterm elections overall, and that Everytown had pledged $30 million for the 2018 cycle.
  • Everytown’s own contributions: the Everytown Action Fund’s 990s show that contributions make up about 97 percent of its revenue (2024), meaning the group depends on donations rather than dues or sales. The individual donors are not public.
  • Arnold Ventures, the philanthropy of John and Laura Arnold, put $20 million into the National Collaborative on Gun Violence Research, set up in 2018 and run by the RAND Corporation. RAND reported in 2024 that the collaborative had awarded more than $24 million to 57 research projects. It funds research rather than advocacy.
  • The Joyce Foundation in Chicago started a gun violence program in 1993. In a 2019 report it said it had invested $32 million in gun violence prevention research over about 25 years.

Political Spending

Everytown announced in January 2020 that its Action Fund and Victory Fund would spend at least $60 million on the 2020 elections, about double its 2018 spending. In July 2024 it announced a $45 million program for the 2024 elections. FEC data compiled by ProPublica shows that the Everytown Victory Fund (super PAC) raised $14.5 million and spent $18.4 million in the 2024 cycle, including $13.8 million in independent expenditures. In October 2024 The Reload, citing FEC filings, reported that gun control PACs had raised about $12.6 million in the first nine months of 2024, compared with about $4.9 million for the NRA’s PAC and super PAC over the same period.

How It Compares

Gun-rights groups also raise large sums. The National Rifle Association of America, a 501(c)(4), reported $173.8 million in revenue for 2024, down from $282.0 million in 2020. Gun Owners of America reported $7.7 million for 2024. The National Shooting Sports Foundation, the firearm industry’s 501(c)(6) trade association, reported $63.0 million for the fiscal year ending March 2025. In elections, PBS NewsHour reported that the NRA spent $54 million in 2016 and about $11 million in 2018. On federal lobbying, Fortune reported in 2022, using OpenSecrets data, that gun-rights groups spent $15.8 million in 2021 against $2.9 million for gun control groups, and about $190 million against $30 million since 1998. Overall, the largest organizations on each side work at a similar scale: gun-rights groups have usually spent more on lobbying, while gun control groups have outspent them in some recent election cycles.

How to Research a Group’s Finances

Sources