With the North Carolina legislative session ending Friday, one bill that never saw the light of day was an attempt to repeal "Stand Your Ground provisions" that passed in 2011.

This house bill (HB 1192) never made it out of the Judiciary subcommittee where it was introduced in May. Was the bill buried because the NRA has spent years building influence in the state and key legislators have benefitted and stand to benefit politically by supporting NRA positions?

Let’s look at the facts:

• The NRA and pro-gun interests have spent over $100,000 since the 1998 cycle on North Carolina state campaigns.
• Leo Daughtry, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, has taken at least $8500 in campaign money from the NRA over his career, including maximum contribution amounts allowed in North Carolina. He was the Judiciary Committee chair who shepherded Stand Your Ground in 2011. For another pro-gun bill (“guns in bars”), the NRA reported working with Daughtry to remove language that would have kept guns out of ballparks and playgrounds. He's also gotten high lifetime scores from the NRA Political Victory Fund, including an A+ in 2006 and A in 2008.
• Mark Hilton, a primary sponsor of pro-gun bills such as Stand Your Ground and guns in bars and a member of the Judiciary committee, has taken $450 from the NRA.

Big money too often decides what policies statehouses and Congress pass--and the NRA and gun makers have a lot of money to support--or oppose--particular candidates. Public Campaign Action Fund’s David Donnelly wrote in the Miami Herald last week about Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law, “It’s obvious to note that there are no super PACs for victims of ‘justifiable homicides.’ Their voices deserve to be heard just as loudly as those with money. At some point, we ought to stand our ground for that."

With research assistance from Tam Doan and Stefani Chow