The Senate last week failed to pass a measure prohibiting assault weapons or a compromise bill to strengthen background checks.

Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre and the NRA are targeting 14 bills. (Photo: Evan Vucci, AP) Story Highlights The NRA spent $700,000 on federal lobbying during first three months of the year

The NRA has spent $125,000 more on lobbying this year than it did during the first quarter of 2012

Monday is the deadline to submit reports on lobbying activity

WASHINGTON – The National Rifle Association stepped up its lobbying activity during the first three months of the year, spending $700,000 as it sought to fend off new efforts to pass gun-safety legislation, new lobbying reports show.

By comparison, the NRA spent $575,000 on lobbying during the first three months of 2012.

Among the 14 bills targeted by NRA's lobbyists: proposals to ban assault-style weapons and to expand background checks for gun purchases – measures pushed by President Obama following last December's shootings that killed 26 children and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

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The Senate last week failed to pass a measure prohibiting assault weapons or a compromise bill to strengthen background checks, both of which the NRA opposed. Senators did approve amendments that seek to limit the public release of gun-ownership information and that encourage mental-health awareness and school-violence prevention efforts.

Monday is the deadline for interest groups, companies and others with business before the federal government to submit reports, detailing their lobbying activity during the first quarter of the year.

As of midafternoon, new lobbying reports had not been filed on behalf of the leading gun-control groups, including Americans for Responsible Solutions, a new group led by former Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head while meeting with constituents in January 2011. The group recently hired two lobbying firms to advance its agenda on Capitol Hill.

In the past, gun-control advocates have failed to match the NRA's spending. The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, for instance, spent $40,000 on lobbying last year – an amount dwarfed by the $2.5 million spent by the NRA in 2012.

The NRA's filing shows it employs 12 in-house lobbyists, including its highly visible executive vice president, Wayne LaPierre.

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