Last week the Washington Post discovered that the National Rifle Association had, without explanation, quietly erased their online database tracking lawmaker "grades" on gun issues. The organization had long assigned letter grades to elected officials based on their compliance with each NRA demand; those that voted against new gun legislation or voted for new attempts to weaken gun safety laws got "A" grades, and lawmakers who did not bend to their demands got lower grades.
There was no announcement from the NRA; the ratings were simply gone. Was it an error? Was it intended? The only comment that could be pried from the domestic terrorism lobbying group was an anonymous staffer who opined "I think our enemies were using that."
But there's good news, NRA! One of the nation's leading gun safety groups has helpfully reconstructed the list and made it available to the public! Aren't you happy?
The grades, which thanks to the group Everytown for Gun Safety are now available for download here, stretch back to 2009. You can use it to find out that House Speaker Paul Ryan has gotten an A or A+ rating from the NRA every time they have graded him, making him a loyal foot soldier in the effort to protect mass shooters from unfair gun restrictions. Marco Rubio got a shameful, shameful B+ during his 2010 Senate bid, but thanks to some good and proper toadying was able to pop up to an A+ rating by the time 2016 rolled around. Rick Scott earned the same cherished A+ rating during his own last campaign—and it's probably only a coincidence that some of the most horrific mass murders in America have happened under his watch, in his state.
Aren't you just thrilled, National Rifle Association? These grades will no longer be lost to history. Everyone will be able to once again look up whether their lawmaker has been a sniveling coward catering to the domestic terrorism lobby or a voice, at long sodding last, for basic sanity. And you won't even have to pay for it! That's probably important, seeing how you've been so hard up for cash of late that you've had to ask your Russian friends to help you with your usual campaign efforts.