Bloomberg’s anti-gun push
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg this week stepped up his already prominent role in the debate over gun control, announcing that he would spend $12 million of his own money on an advertising campaign to pressure Congress into expanding background checks for gun buyers. The ads—one of which features a gun-wielding hunter saying “background checks have nothing to do with taking guns away from anyone”—will target 15 senators in 13 states. Later this month, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is expected to put a gun-control package to a vote, having removed the assault weapons ban that he felt lacked sufficient support in Congress.
National Rifle Association chief Wayne LaPierre has finally “met his match,” said Newsday in an editorial. On NBC’s Meet the Press, he said Bloomberg “can’t spend enough of his $27 billion to try to impose his will on the American public.” But what has LaPierre’s gun lobby been doing all these years, if not imposing its will on Congress with the help of “millions of dollars happily anted up by American firearms manufacturers?” LaPierre is just sore that the NRA—with 4.5 million members and a $300 million budget—is finally being rivaled in funding and fervor.
Actually, “Bloomberg’s activism is the best thing to happen” to the pro-gun lobby for years, said Noah Rothman in Mediaite.com. People are sick to death of Nanny-in-Chief Bloomberg and his “unashamed efforts to ban or curtail” any pleasures he deems remotely harmful, including smoking and sugary drinks. Now he’s after our guns. People outside the East Coast are bound to reject this latest expression of Bloomberg’s “unvarnished progressivism.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
![https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516-320-80.jpg)
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
It’s going to be an interesting battle, said Chris Cillizza and Sean Sullivan in WashingtonPost.com. Bloomberg’s support for background checks is shared by almost 90 percent of the American public, and he may be the only person wealthy enough and stubborn enough to push this law through. Still, “it’s hard to see how $12 million spent in March of an off-year will have a tremendous persuasive effect on the incumbents.” But even if Bloomberg is tilting at windmills here, the pro-gun forces would be foolish to discount the formidable influence of “one of the most compelling actors in the political world.”
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
Why the UK phone signal is so poor
Under The Radar Having trouble connecting? A lack of investment, planning rules and even your home could be to blame
By Elizabeth Carr-Ellis, The Week UK Published
-
Battleground states to watch in the 2024 election
In Depth These seven states could end up deciding who wins the White House this year
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Leave the crowds behind at these 7 sensational hotels
The Week Recommends Traveling in September means more room to explore
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published
-
The final fate of Flight 370
feature Malaysian officials announced that radar data had proven that the missing Flight 370 “ended in the southern Indian Ocean.”
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
The airplane that vanished
feature The mystery deepened surrounding the Malaysia Airlines flight that disappeared one hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur.
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
A drug kingpin’s capture
feature The world’s most wanted drug lord, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, was captured by Mexican marines in the resort town of Mazatlán.
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
A mixed verdict in Florida
feature The trial of Michael Dunn, a white Floridian who fatally shot an unarmed black teen, came to a contentious end.
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
New Christie allegation
feature Did a top aide to the New Jersey governor tie Hurricane Sandy relief funds to the approval of a development proposal in the city of Hoboken?
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
A deal is struck with Iran
feature The U.S. and five world powers finalized a temporary agreement to halt Iran’s nuclear program.
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
End-of-year quiz
feature Here are 40 questions to test your knowledge of the year’s events.
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Note to readers
feature Welcome to a special year-end issue of The Week.
By The Week Staff Last updated