Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Penn., said Monday that the National Rifle Association's political pull derives from its large membership, not its sizable political donations.
"If you could pull back the curtain a little bit and just share with us, what happens. How does this fail each and every time?" CNN "New Day" co-host Dave Briggs asked Dent. "Is it as simple as saying the NRA is just too powerful and people can't say no to their donations?"
"No I don't think so," Dent replied. "I think the issue with the NRA is the NRA's real power is in their members, more than money. That's been my view. They have lots of members all around the country and that's what makes them pretty strong."
He added, "But that said, I can't speak as to why leadership does not want to permit a vote on this in the House."
Dent then pointed to his home state as an example of how to regulate firearms without drawing opposition from the NRA.
"Pennsylvania is a pretty pro-gun rights state, but we do background checks on private sales of pistols, we've been doing it for 20 years and we did it under a Republican governor," he said. "When I was in the legislature, we voted for it. And we were able at that time to bring together the NRA and gun control groups and law enforcement to agree. Today in Washington… it's getting increasingly difficult to do incremental, bipartisan changes on controversial issues. It shouldn't be this difficult."
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.