It’s awful that our politics have come down to dueling special-interest groups, but it’s the way it is:
Michael R. Bloomberg, making his first major political investment since leaving office, plans to spend $50 million this year building a nationwide grass-roots network to motivate voters who feel strongly about curbing gun violence, an organization he hopes can eventually outmuscle the National Rifle Association.
Mr. Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York, said gun control advocates need to learn from the N.R.A. and punish those politicians who fail to support their agenda — even Democrats whose positions otherwise align with his own.
“They say, ‘We don’t care. We’re going to go after you,’ ” he said of the N.R.A. “ ‘If you don’t vote with us we’re going to go after your kids and your grandkids and your great-grandkids. And we’re never going to stop.’ ”
He added: “We’ve got to make them afraid of us.”
The considerable advantages that gun rights advocates enjoy — in intensity, organization and political clout — will not be easy to overcome. Indeed, Mr. Bloomberg has already spent millions of dollars trying to persuade members of Congress to support enhanced background check laws with virtually nothing to show for it.
What is more, for many gun owners, the issue is a deeply personal one that energizes them politically, said Larry Pratt, executive director of Gun Owners of America, who dismissed the mayor’s plans.
“He’s got the money to waste,” Mr. Pratt said. “So I guess he’s free to do so. But frankly, I think he’s going to find out why his side keeps losing.”
The N.R.A. had no comment.
Fuck the NRA.
A billionaire with White House aspirations is building a nationwide “grass-roots” network to motivate voters? Yes, I’m sure he has no ulterior motive.
Well Tom Allen, do you really give a shit if he runs for the White House? He can’t win anyway, so maybe he CAN win going against the NRA: WTF????? Our babies and youngsters are being slaughtered across the country in record numbers because of guns being bought and sold (and sometimes even given away by the ignorance inspired by the NRA that helps assholes with 2nd grade educations go out and shoot anything that moves). I salute Bloomberg’s efforts and I would hope that you and others would do so as well.