INSTITUTE INDEX: The big money behind Big Gun

Amount the National Rifle Association, the leading U.S. gun-rights lobbying group, spent on the 2012 election: $18.6 million

Factor by which that exceeded spending by the leading gun-control advocacy group: 3,199

Amount the NRA's Political Victory Fund, an outside spending group, spent trying to defeat President Obama: $9.8 million

Percent of lawmakers in the new Congress that convenes next month who received campaign contributions from the NRA at some point in their political careers: 51

Percent who received contributions from the NRA in their most recent race: 47

Among the Senate's top recipients of NRA contributions, rank of Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), who co-sponsored legislation expanding the right to use firearms in self-defense: 1

Rank of Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), who co-sponsored legislation banning gun registration in Washington, D.C., and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky), who has a strong pro-gun rights voting record: 2

Among the top House recipients of NRA contributions, rank of Rep. Steve Fincher (R-Tenn.), who co-sponsored legislation to loosen restrictions on interstate gun purchases : 1

Rank of Rep. Eric Eric Cantor (R-Va.), who co-sponsored legislation prohibiting lawsuits against gun manufacturers: 2

Number of members of Congress who are members of the NRA's board of directors: 2*

NRA's annual budget: over $200 million

Estimated amount the NRA received from gun manufacturers from 2005 through 2010, leading gun-control advocates to call it a "virtual subsidiary of the gun industry": $14.7 million to $38.9 million

Contribution the NRA got from gunmaker Sturm Ruger, which had a yearlong promotion contributing $1 to the group for each firearm sold: over $1.2 million

Contribution gun maker Beretta USA gave the NRA to support Second Amendment lawsuits: $1 million

Contribution the NRA got from the CEO of Cabela's, a sporting-goods chain store that sells guns: $1 million

Profit the U.S. gun industry is expected to make this year: $993 million

Number of guns manufactured in the U.S. last year alone: nearly 6 million

Factor by which that exceeds the number manufactured annually a decade ago: 2

Rank of Wal-Mart among the top U.S. gun sellers: 1

Number of days after the Dec. 14 Sandy Hook elementary massacre that the NRA broke its silence on the tragedy by rejecting calls for gun control and calling instead for putting armed guards in schools: 7

Rank of the NRA among the top contributors to former Congressman Asa Hutchinson (R-Ark.), who will lead the group's "National School Shield Emergency Response Program": 1

Rank of Wal-Mart stores among his top contributors: 2

* Reps. Don Young (R-Alaska) and Dan Boren (D-Okla.)

(Click on figure to go to source.)