Here's how much the National Rifle Association donates to politicians in heavily Hispanic districts

The National Rifle Association has spent at least $123 million since 1990 to fight restrictions on the right to bear arms in the United States.

That's $4.5 million per year, in a country that just suffered the worst mass shooting in its recent history and has more guns than people.

The country has 357 million guns and 317 people, according to official figures from 2013.

The NRA has donated money and advertising support to 319 members of the U.S. Congress currently serving in Washington.

Part of the NRA money went to members from districts where Hispanics make up more than half the population, according to data analyzed by Univision News.

Among the Hispanic lawmakers who accepted money from the gun lobby are Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX), and Miami Republicans Mario Díaz-Balart, Carlos Curbelo and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.

Another member of the Hispanic Caucus in Congress, Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), received $3,500 from the NRA.

Among other Hispanic lawmakers favored by the NRA are Republican Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas, who received $75,000 in direct contributions and campaign support, and Marco Rubio of Florida, who received $3.3 million.

The majority of NRA contributions went to Republicans.

The data on the gun lobby comes from OpenSecrets.org, a non-profit that tracks the money received by politicians, government officials and lobbyists to influence U.S. policies.

The $123 million estimate is conservative. Although the organization has been tracking political contributions since 1990, it started counting money spent on lobbying in 1998 and on “external expenses” in 2004.

The NRA argues for the right to bear arms in order to ensure the safety of U.S. citizens. But a database gathered by Mother Jones showed that 77 percent of all mass shootings recorded since 1982, including the most recent in Las Vegas, were carried out with legally purchased weapons.

Representatives in Hispanic districts

Univision News analyzed available NRA contribution records in the 39 U.S. Congressional districts where at least half the population is Hispanic. We found support for six representatives from California, Texas, Florida and New Mexico.

The biggest recipient was Steve Pearce, a New Mexico Republican who received $90,165.

The NRA also contributed to six U.S. senators from four states that, together, are home to more than half of all Hispanics in the United States.

The biggest beneficiary was Republican John McCain, who received more than $7 million.

Direct assistance drops

About 20 percent of the $123 million that the NRA spent to avert restrictions on gun ownership since 1990 went to the electoral campaigns of politicians or government officials, most of them Republicans.

Another $45 million, or about 37 percent, went to lobbyists in Washington and state senators. In the last year alone, the NRA paid lobbyists to influence 190 proposed laws on gun ownership.

Nearly half the money the NRA spent since 1990 to promote its issues – $54 million – went to “external costs.” That's money it spent directly, not in donations to politicians.

Direct contributions to politicians dropped off in recent years as the money spent on publicity rose.

"This organization is very generous in this category, compared to the other organizations in our ranking,” said Brendan Quinn, communications director at OpenSecrets.org.

The NRA ranks eighth out of 166 organizations in that category, according to OpenSecrets.

The advantage of paying for its own advertising is that the NRA also controls the message, said Matt Grossmann, director of the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research at Michigan State University.

"They generally produce advertising on their own issues, and if they donated the money to a candidate they would not be sure that those issues would be raised,” said Grossmann.

Searching for politicians

Why does the NRA want to influence politicians, by donating money to their campaigns or paying for lobbyists?

“Like any other interest group, they have priorities for public policies and want to achieve them by making sure that people who agree with them are elected,” said Grossmann, “and making sure that those on their side know that the NRA backs them, and that the NRA support is important.”

“They try to signal members that the NRA backs them, and that they expect the members will back the NRA's priorities,” he added.

Grossmann, an expert on elections and political culture, added that those donations are only a small part of the NRA's overall political activities.

"They have am enormous lobbying operation, an enormous membership and get-out-the-vote initiative, and they sometimes intervene with their own advertising instead of donations to candidates,” he said.

The NRA spent $2.3 million in lobbying in 1998, and $3.1 million in 2016.

“All of that is valuable, and is more likely to influence political decisions than campaign contributions,” Grossmann said.