Florida shooting: 276 lawmakers who 'take NRA money and block gun control' named in massive advert

Two gun control groups have spent $230,000 on a massive New York Times advert listing the names and telephone numbers of 276 members of Congress who “take NRA money but refuse to take action to pass gun safety legislation.”

The two-page ad, paid for by Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, also details how much money each Congress member is alleged to have received from the NRA during their career. The list appears beside a photo of students leaving Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School during last week’s shooting, with the words of 17-year-old survivor David Hogg: “We are the children. You guys are the adults … Get something done.”

Above and below the list of Congress members and their telephone numbers, the advert urges: "Tell your member of Congress that your vote is going elsewhere unless they act ... If they won't act, it's up to us to elect leaders who will."

Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America said: “This ad is a list of names of lawmakers who have wilfully chosen to be on the wrong side of history.

“Gun violence is senseless, devastating and preventable. Every lawmaker who fails to act is allowing this crisis to continue.”

The advert follows days of criticism of US legislators for allegedly being in thrall to the National Rifle Association (NRA) and other gun rights organisations which together spent nearly $54m in the 2016 election cycle to support candidates of whom they approved.

The advert was published on Wednesday, the day that survivors of the shooting in Parkland, Florida, were due to march to the state capital Tallahassee, to demand a ban on assault rifles of the kind used in last week’s shooting.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School pupils have already watched as state legislators blocked a motion to consider legislation to outlaw assault rifles on Tuesday, while voting to label pornography a public health risk.

Among the 14 Florida Congress members listed is Senator Marco Rubio who reportedly received an A+ rating from the NRA during his 2016 US Senate re-election campaign and more than $1m in donations from the group over the course of his career as an elected official.

The day after the Florida high school shooting, Mr Rubio told the US Senate that most previous gun control proposals “would not have prevented, not just yesterday's tragedy, but any of those in recent history."

He added: “It is a tough issue … It isn’t fair or right to create this impression that somehow this attack happened because there is some law out there that we could have passed to prevent it.”

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School pupils who survived the mass shooting, however, have emerged as powerful advocates of gun control.

They are helping to organise a March for Our Lives movement, which will see students all over the US staging demonstrations in support of gun control on March 24.

George and Amal Clooney have announced they will be donating $500,000 to the campaign, as has Oprah Winfrey.

John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety, said: “The public is united behind common-sense gun laws. Members of Congress can step up or voters will throw them out.”