Movement-countermovement pairs develop in opposition to one another as they battle for position, influence, and survival in a shifting political and cultural context. While theoretical work on countermovements and the political context posits a rough symmetry between opposing movements, our analysis demonstrates significant asymmetries in the fight over gun policy in the United States. Drawing on news accounts, government records, public opinion polls, and organizational-capacity data for twenty-six gun control and twenty-nine gun rights groups, we show that both sides grow during policy fights and after focusing events, but the side with more stable revenue sustains growth longer. The gun rights movement’s financial advantages made it far less dependent on attention-grabbing moments. This imbalance reflects resource differences that affect each side’s capacity for responding to political opportunities and threats. Our findings highlight the need for more research on the implications of resource and power imbalances for effective organizing.

运动-对抗运动对在争夺不断变化的政治和文化环境中的地位，影响力和生存之战中相互对立。尽管有关反动派和政治背景的理论工作在对立运动之间存在着大致的对称性，但我们的分析表明，在美国的枪支政策斗争中存在着明显的不对称性。利用新闻帐户，政府记录，民意测验以及26个枪支管制组织和29个枪支维权组织的组织能力数据，我们表明，双方在政策斗争期间和重点事件发生后都有所增长，但这一方面拥有更多稳定的收入可以更长久地维持增长。枪支权利运动的经济优势使它不再那么依赖吸引注意力的时刻。这种不平衡反映了资源差异，影响了双方应对政治机会和威胁的能力。我们的发现强调需要对资源和权力失衡对有效组织的影响进行更多研究。