The National Rifle Association, already known as a lobbying powerhouse, has added the former chief of staff to a key “Blue Dog” Democrat to its roster of outside advocates.
Vickie Walling, a former chief of staff to Rep. John Tanner (D-Tenn.) who is now a managing director at Prime Policy Group, will lobby for the NRA on campaign finance reform legislation and Second Amendment rights for D.C. residents, according to a lobbying registration filed Friday. Tanner is a co-founder of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition.
Neither Walling nor the NRA could immediately be reached for comment. Walling joins a group of outside lobbyists that includes Crossroads Strategies, C2 Group and Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, as well as an in-house team. The NRA spent $515,000 lobbying in the first quarter of 2010, disclosure filings show.
Last month, Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) blamed NRA-backed language on gun rights for killing a D.C. voting rights bill that appeared headed to the floor of the House.
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