In light of last night’s vice presidential debate, Americans are reminded there are more elections at stake than just the ticket for the presidency. There are numerous Senate and House races as well.
The NSSF has released its 2024 Congressional Report Card, offering a clear look at where members of Congress stand on key legislation affecting the firearm industry, Second Amendment rights and the interests of hunters and recreational shooters. As the nation inches closer to the November elections, gun owners and advocates of firearm freedoms can see exactly which politicians are their strongest allies—and, unsurprisingly, Republicans dominate the top of the list. In fact, they OWN the top of the list.
The NSSF’s grading system ranks lawmakers on their support for pro-firearm legislation during the 118th Congress (2023-2024). The scores are based on voting records, sponsorship and co-sponsorship of key bills, committee work and overall leadership in defending the gun industry. These grades don’t serve as endorsements but are a clear signal of which lawmakers prioritize gun owners’ rights.
The Senate Breakdown: A Stark Contrast
Republicans in the Senate overwhelmingly received high marks, with 27 Senators earning an “A+” grade, while another 11 received grades ranging from A to B. Among the top performers were eight Senators who achieved a perfect voting record and earned special recognition on the NSSF’s Dean’s List. Meanwhile, not a single Democrat managed to rise above a failing grade, with 39 Senate Democrats receiving an “F.”
This divide shows that when it comes to gun rights, party affiliation plays a major role. Republican Senators, by and large, stood strong in defense of the Second Amendment, while their Democratic counterparts were widely viewed as hostile to the industry and gun ownership.
Senate Grades by Party
Republicans
- A+: 27
- A: 8
- A-: 3
- B+: 3
- B: 1
Democrats
- F: 39
The House: Republicans Lead the Charge
The situation in the House of Representatives mirrors that of the Senate, with Republicans standing as the clear champions of gun rights. A total of 127 Republican Representatives earned an “A+” rating, and 24 of those were placed on the NSSF’s Dean’s List. An additional 75 Republican lawmakers received grades between A and B, while a small handful had lower marks or incomplete grades due to insufficient records.
On the other side of the aisle, the grades for Democrats were dismal. Out of 157 Democratic House members, the overwhelming majority were handed an “F,” indicating a consistent pattern of voting against pro-gun legislation. Only five Democrats avoided outright failing marks, with four receiving a “D-” and one earning a “D.”
House Grades by Party
Republicans
- A+: 127
- A: 26
- A-: 20
- B+: 16
- B: 9
- C+: 5
- C: 0
- Incomplete: 3
Democrats
- D: 1
- D-: 4
- F: 157
Who’s on the Dean’s List?
In both the House and Senate, a select group of Republicans achieved the highest possible distinction. These lawmakers had a perfect voting record, co-sponsored key legislation, and demonstrated consistent leadership in defense of the firearm industry and Second Amendment rights. This group represents the staunchest defenders of gun owners’ rights and will likely remain key allies for those invested in the preservation of gun freedoms.
Dean’s List Members in the Senate
- Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)
- Bill Cassidy (R-LA)
- Kevin Cramer (R-ND)
- Mike Crapo (R-ID)
- Steve Daines (R-MT)
- Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
- Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS)
- Pete Ricketts (R-NE)
Dean’s List Members in the House
- Mark Alford (R-MO-04)
- Brian Babin (R-TX-36)
- Cliff Bentz (R-OR-02)
- Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05)
- Ken Buck (R-CO-04)
- Lauren Boebert (R-CO-03)
- Scott DesJarlais (R-TN-04)
- Ron Estes (R-KS-04)
- Brad Finstad (R-MN-01)
- Michelle Fischbach (R-MN-07)
- Scott Fitzgerald (R-WI-05)
- Jeff Duncan (R-SC-03)
- Russ Fulcher (R-ID-01)
- Mike Garcia (R-CA-27)
- Paul Gosar (R-AZ-09)
- Glenn Grothman (R-WI-06)
- Kay Granger (R-TX-12)
- Richard Hudson (R-NC-09)
- Wesley Hunt (R-TX-38)
- Jim Jordan (R-OH-04)
- Ralph Norman (R-SC-05)
- Claudia Tenney (R-NY-24)
- Thomas Tiffany (R-WI-07)
- Bruce Westerman (R-AR-04)
- Rob Wittman (R-VA-01)
- Jodey Arrington (R-TX-19)
- Tim Burchett (R-TN-02)
- Mike Bost (R-IL-12)
- Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY-04)
- Pat Fallon (R-TX-04)
- Vicky Hartzler (R-MO-04)
- Brian Mast (R-FL-21)
- Chip Roy (R-TX-21)
- Elise Stefanik (R-NY-21)
Chart: NSSF Grades by Party
| Grade | Republican Senate | Democrat Senate | Republican House | Democrat House |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A+ | 27 | 0 | 127 | 0 |
| A | 8 | 0 | 26 | 0 |
| A- | 3 | 0 | 20 | 0 |
| B+ | 3 | 0 | 16 | 0 |
| B | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| C+ | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| C | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| D | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| D- | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| F | 0 | 39 | 0 | 157 |
This table visually summarizes the grades for both Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate based on the NSSF’s 2024 report card, showing a clear divide between the parties on their support for gun rights and the firearm industry.
For gun owners heading to the polls this November, this report card highlights who is most committed to defending their Second Amendment rights. The distinction between the two parties on this issue could not be clearer, and gun owners have the data they need to make informed decisions in the voting booth.
billy boy cassidy is a Trump Back Stabbing pos and a knee jerk pos who threw Gun Rights under the bus following the Nashville school shooting. I have a lame as can be response letter from him which boils down to some two bit bag of manure criminally misuses a firearm and John Q. Public shares liability because they own firearms.
bill cassidy is not worth spit so as for the dean’s list…don’t pee on my leg and tell me it’s raining.
Cassidy voted for the Bi-partisan Safer Communities Act. Totally belongs on the dunce list -not the Dean’s List.
Bill Cassidy on the Dean’s list………what a sick joke. The only list he belongs on is the outhouse list.
This alone flaws the list and destroys credibility.
Perhaps they misspelled John Kennedy (Rep La).
Remember Senator Kennedy is the one who said in a campaign ad: I believe in love, but you might want to own a gun too. A word or 2 may be off but you get the point.
Yup.
When asked why the folks behind the Bi-partisan Safer Communities Act got A grades the NSSF said that they “didn’t count that legislation in on the calculations” -or otherwise didn’t consider it to even BE anti-gun legislation in the first place. The NSSF is all for Redflag laws and universal registration along with safe storage laws so the whole act was a WIN in their opinion.
So that tells us all we need to know about the NSSF and their people like the author of this piece right here on TTAG and other such as Larry Keane. The so-called pro-2A is completely infected with such “allies” like a cancer patient is infected with malignant tumors.
The sickness is all around us here…
In public the Republicans talk a good game about freedom, but in private it’s a different story.
Just like Trump who said “take the guns first, worry about the process later”.
“Gun control: Richard Nixon wished for total handgun ban
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
03/11/2013 10:01 AM EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — Few presidents in modern times have been as interested in gun control as Richard Nixon, of all people. He proposed ridding the market of Saturday night specials, contemplated banning handguns altogether and refused to pander to gun owners by feigning interest in their weapons.
Several previously unreported Oval Office recordings and White House memos from the Nixon years show a conservative president who at times appeared willing to take on the National Rifle Association, a powerful gun lobby then as now, even as his aides worried about the political ramifications.
“I don’t know why any individual should have a right to have a revolver in his house,” Nixon said in a taped conversation with aides. “The kids usually kill themselves with it and so forth.” He asked why “can’t we go after handguns, period?”
Nixon went on: “I know the rifle association will be against it, the gun makers will be against it.” But “people should not have handguns.” He laced his comments with obscenities, as was typical.”
we remember that bipartisan bull they passed!
Yet Bull Cassidy who voted for it then makes the “Dean’s List” here. The NSSF is so full of it.
It’s interesting that at some one point. The voters “will vomit.” And Even legal b.utt se.x and dru.gs can’t get you elected.
Thats what happened when huge numbers of Bernie Sanders supporters voted from Trump in 2016.
They saw Hillary Clinton and the creation of the “super delegates”. The democrat party leadership didn’t care that Bernie won. So they “stole the election” from Sanders in 2016.
Just like they stole the election from Trump in 2020.
The “gun community utopians” are happy to lose, if they don’t get everything they want. So they should be very comfortable in California or Colorado, etc.
Trump gave us our current supreme court. The dems, the true threat to democracy, would end the court if they could.
The only thing worse than a new civil war would be harris as potus. And just by watching the talking heads it looks like we may already be in a civil war.
We are faced with truly horrible times.
We are. Not all of us will see the end of it unfortunately. The people at the NSSF NRA, and even the editors of TTAG who let these NSSF clowns post their negotiating rights away palf here are all in on it with their lies and half-truths. The Truth was always the first casualty of war while a lie can travel around the world before the Truth could get its boots on.
Shall not be infringed. no buts, no concessions. No Fudds.
This.
The NSSF represents the interests of manufacturers, not end users. Those two sets can overlap, but not necessarily.
“we may already be in a civil war.“
The only Civil War happening now is the one between the sane conservative Republicans and the crazy MAGA fascists.
Another comment just vanished. I believe I’ll take a break for a few days.
This site is just “loyal opposition” that’s why the NSSF and NRA Fudds are invited to regularly post their appeasement garbage here.
Good to see Stefanik made the list as well as others. Would like to see more but NYC keeps sending migrants everywhere.
Now that I’ve returned to the online world I’ll get back to work on your list here, SAFE.
I’m now, at least theoretically, done with constantly having to deal with my prior little emergency. Navigating what amounts to a casevac across state lines is not something I recommend getting into if you can possibly avoid it.
The last Democrats to rate a B or C got bullied into becoming Ds and Fs by their fellow Democrats more than a decade ago.
Now they shoot for F like it’s a badge of honor as they demand Patriot Act renewals, say the first amendment is a hindrance to an effective government and flaunt endorsements from such luminaries as Dick Cheney.
With the turtle from KY retiring(maybe), lets see if the TX Sen. JC who’s vying for the minority post on the list,,, nope. IMO JC is just one more bought & paid for RINO.
There is a great difference between legislators who are active defenders of the Second Amendment, and those who say, “I believe in the Second Amendment, but….”
These “report cards” are meaningless as predictors of how the named people will actually act.
This is the same congressional report card that gave John Cornyn an A after helping write and push through the Bi-partisan Safer Communities Act? How is the NSSF even a thing any more in the true Pro-2A community? We can never take you fudds seriously ever again!
Bill Cassidy on the Dean’s List? The guy who voted for the Bi-partisan Safer Communities Act? You guys at the NSSF really must think we are dumb or have short memories.
GREAT 2A WIN! PUBLIC TRANSPORT CARRY BAN ATTEMPT FAIL.
h ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fuJMnikE6w
CNN Claims Harris “Worst Democratic Candidate In A GENERATION”.
h ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWWBOZd5HGY
What Tim Walz Gets Wrong on Guns.
How bad was Tim Walz (in debate) and how wrong is he when it comes to your Second Amendment Rights. Washington Gun Law President, William Kirk, discusses (debate) performance by gov. Tin Walz and all the crazy things he said when it comes to your inalienable right of self preservation.
h ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFs9W9nUpVE
Tim Walz: “I’ve Become Friends With School Shooters” (Vice President Debate 2024) (Walz debunking).
h ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pEG1lcHdR8
americans have the right to bear arms and yet your southern boarders are being invaded
🇺🇸🥰Xax
My daddy has been dead for over a decade and I don’t need a politician to replace him.
I know it is just a silly turn of phrase, but too many people legitimately want a “daddy” government that will punish the people that they don’t like. We need a small government that doesn’t come anywhere close to resembling a familial position in our lives.
“many people legitimately want a “daddy”
“gun rights is just a football to raise money and power for the elite“
Welcome to the Trump MAGA cult.
As seen with the NRA, gun rights is just a football to raise money and power for the elite. Not much of substance gets done on the national level. No reciprocity, no suppressors, just messing around with useless stuff like banning bumpstocks. We don’t need more “Daddy government” nor dictators for the day. Noneya.
*Weird* how so many “blue states” have members on the Dean’s List.
That said, expecting pols to do much of anything other that redistribute your currency to others and keep us on the path to self-immolation is unwise.
The answer isn’t different pols, it’s a government that’s 90%(+) smaller. Having reduce the size of .gov it would then also help enormously to place a season, with appropriate bag limits, on former bureaucrats until that population is controlled while at the same time putting an unlimited season on those who possess an MBA or have ever worked as an “administrator”.
No worries about rights either since none of them qualify as people.
“putting an unlimited season on those who possess an MBA“
Pol Pot would be so proud!
Where will y’all MAGA set up your ‘killing fields’?
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