By: Teresa Mull
Michael Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City who has spent millions of his billion-dollar fortune to push gun control, just announced he is seriously thinking of running for president.
“Michael R. Bloomberg is actively considering a campaign for president as a Democrat in 2020, concluding that it would be his only path to the White House even as he voices stark disagreements with progressives on defining…” The New York Times reports.
“Mr. Bloomberg, 76 … has already aligned himself with Democrats in the midterm elections, approving a plan to spend $80 million to flip control of the House of Representatives,” The Times continues. “A political group he controls will soon begin spending heavily in three Republican-held districts in Southern California, attacking conservative candidates for their stances on abortion, guns, and the environment.”
In an interview with The Times in 2014, Bloomberg said,
“You have to be careful if there’s two issues you care about, and they’re good on, one bad on the other, what do you do? And I think you’ve got to pick your issue. In our case, my case, it’s guns. I care very much about immigration. But guns are the No. 1 thing. So I’ve got a senator who’s running for re-election. He’s terrible on guns but good on immigration. I’m going after him. That’s it.”
Bloomberg’s money is behind The Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund, which, The Washington Post reports, “is spending millions to support candidates in four states, underscoring the extent to which gun control is shaping up to be an issue in the November midterm election.”
According to Everytown.org, the organization’s focus issues include “background checks on all gun sales.” Everytown urges people to “kick out lawmakers beholden to the gun lobby” and “stop concealed carry reciprocity.”
Everytown also recently teamed up Levi-Strauss to funnel millions more into the gun control movement.
‘A Relentless Record of Banning Guns’
Ryan Flugaur, Senior Political Director for the National Association for Gun Rights, says Bloomberg’s “relentless record of banning guns dwarfs both President Obama and Hillary Clinton.
“During and following his reign as Mayor, New York City, Bloomberg effectively bared the legal ownership of most firearms and notoriously prosecuted tourists, including military members, for attempting to comply with ‘no guns’ signs at national landmarks,” Flugaur said.
“If Bloomberg becomes president, you bet he’ll take New York-style gun control to the national level. He’ll keep pushing to ban guns and magazines and to strip Second Amendment rights from millions more law-abiding Americans without trial or congressional approval. Michael Bloomberg would be the most anti-gun President in our lifetime.”
Teresa Mull is editor of Gunpowder Magazine. Contact her at [email protected].