Wayne LaPierre Fairfax, Va.

Chief executive officer of the National Rifle Association; host of Crime Strike, a syndicated weekly TV program.

Power/Influence:

The key to LaPierre’s power is the NRA’s ability to galvanize grass-roots supporters to win elections. The NRA has 4 million members and can energize millions of gun owners across the country. Democrats have learned that they risk defeat if they try to take on the NRA on gun-rights issues. LaPierre will be using the recent Supreme Court decision upholding the right to own guns in Washington, D.C., to challenge gun-regulation laws across the country. “What motivates me,” LaPierre tells Newsmax, “is the concern that the America being designed right now won’t resemble the America we’ve been defending.”

Role in Campaign ’08:

The NRA plans to spend about $40 million on this year’s campaign, with $15 million of that devoted to portraying Obama as a threat to Second Amendment rights.

Who Knew: In 2007, LaPierre took on CNN, saying in a CNN interview about a ban on assault weapons, “Let me say it again. In front of the whole country, your reporter faked that story yesterday.”

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