Washington ( CNN ) -- This week , Coca-Cola and Kraft announced they are pulling their corporate memberships from a conservative group that was behind the spread of `` stand your ground '' laws like the one highlighted in Florida by the Trayvon Martin case . The American Legislative Executive Council , also known as ALEC , is getting attention lately for its behind the scenes work pushing conservative legislation in the states . The group has gotten even more attention since a neighborhood watch volunteer shot and killed unarmed teenager Martin last month . The man who shot Martin , George Zimmerman , said he acted in self-defense . Police have n't charged him and legal experts say Florida 's `` stand your ground '' law may shield Zimmerman from prosecution . The National Rifle Association worked with ALEC to spread similar laws that are on the books in at least 25 states . Those laws grow directly out of the Second Amendment ethos the NRA has championed : `` the ethos of individualism , of having a gun , of individuals taking the initiative , '' said Robert Spitzer , a political scientist at the State University of New York at Cortland and at Cornell University who has studied and written about the NRA for decades . Opinion : When soda pop and politics do n't mix . Less well known is that the NRA has also helped ALEC spread other conservative laws that have nothing to do with gun rights . ALEC drafts and shares model bills with state legislators to promote corporation-friendly and conservative social policy . A watchdog group called the Center for Media and Democracy first documented the NRA 's role in these bills with ALEC . An NRA lobbyist , Tara Mica , helped shepherd a model bill that requires voters to show a photo ID at the polls . Many conservatives have pushed voter ID laws to prevent election fraud . Many liberals say these laws inhibit voting by minorities . Mica also helped preside over ALEC 's passage of the model bill that became the basis of Arizona 's immigration law . That 's the law that requires police to arrest anyone who can not prove when asked that they entered the United States legally . The NRA and Mica would n't talk with CNN , so it 's not known whether Mica consulted with other NRA officials about the bills on voter ID and immigration . ALEC also declined to answer questions . Lisa Graves with the Center for Media and Democracy said the way ALEC works , `` We know a bill can not be approved as a model bill if the private sector members , like the NRA or Walmart , do n't want it to become a model bill . '' Josh Horwitz heads an advocacy group called the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence . He said the NRA 's role with ALEC cements his view that the NRA is really a base for the conservative movement . `` People think the NRA is just a gun group . It 's really not . '' Horwitz said . Horwitz 's group has created a cheeky website , `` Meet the NRA.org . '' It lists the NRA 's board of directors , and it has a rolling information bar that features some of their more colorful statements . The NRA 's board includes Grover Norquist , president of Americans for Tax Reform , and David Keene , former chairman of the American Conservative Union . The board also includes Robert Brown , creator of Soldier of Fortune magazine , and rock guitarist Ted Nugent . Spitzer said the NRA has gotten involved in some other non-gun issues . For instance , he said , the NRA fought hard against campaign finance reform in the days of McCain-Feingold . `` They were taking a very much free-enterprise , government-hands-off-the-campaign-process ( approach ) , '' he said . But Spitzer said the NRA will always be primarily about guns and what they stand for in the individualist American mythology . He said the NRA 's work is cut out for it , because gun ownership is on the decline in America .
American Legislative Executive Council getting attention for pushing conservative legislation . Group was behind the spread of `` stand your ground '' laws . This week , Coca-Cola and Kraft say they are pulling corporate memberships from group . Comment: