Gun PAC dollars still flowing to R.I. lawmakers

Guns & money & Rhode Island politics: As the Talking Heads song says, same as it ever was.

For years, the NRA Political Victory Fund PAC was one of the biggest contributors to Rhode Island lawmakers, donating at least $73,487.68 to their political war chests from 2006 until a 2013 complaint about the improper infusion of national NRA money resulted in the state Board of Elections slapping the PAC with the second-highest fine it had ever levied.

Among the lawmakers who were recipients of these NRA political-action-committee dollars: current Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed ($6,075), Senate Majority Leader Dominick Ruggerio ($3,550), House Minority Leader Brian Newberry ($750) and House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello ($3,425).

In recent years, the dollars have flowed instead through the Gun Owners PAC, which has contributed $12,899 to Rhode Island politicians since the start of 2013, and lists as its treasurer Stephen Hogan, a board member of the R.I. Revolver & Rifle Association, which, in turn, has 13 affiliated gun clubs in Rhode Island.

Read more: http://www.providencejournal.com/news/20160710/political-scene-gun-pac-dollars-still-flowing-to-ri-lawmakers