Battle lines have been drawn between the National Rifle Association and some of the country's leading philanthropists as foundations and major donors step up their efforts to fund research into controlling gun violence, the Washington Post reports.

With his Open Society Institute, billionaire George Soros was one of the first to put money into the campaign when he contributed $300,000 to plaintiffs in a Brooklyn lawsuit against a weapons manufacturer. The February verdict held nine gunmakers liable for practices that allowed criminals to obtain guns.

In this month's edition of its American Guardian magazine, the NRA accuses Soros and others for their part in what the association calls a vast conspiracy to bankrupt gun manufacturers with lawsuits.

Anti-gun advocates, however, say the private money has helped level the playing field between gun manufacturers and shooting victims and their families.

This year, Soros's New York-based Center on Crime, Communities and Culture has helped organize the Funders Collaborative for Gun Violence Prevention, a consortium that has raised $11 million in seed money. The center has dispensed a total of $13 million.

Other foundations taking part in the anti-gun initiative include:

• The Joyce Foundation, based in Chicago, was the first to target gun violence as a health issue. It has given $13.2 million in grants to 55 organizations working on gun issues since 1993.
• The California-based Wellness Foundation, with its 10-year Violence Prevention Initiative, has allocated $60 million for grants to in-state community groups working primarily on youth violence issues.