Bloomberg to put $50M into fighting NRA

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is launching a $50 million operation to take on the National Rifle Association.

Bloombert is forming a new group called “Everytown for Gun Safety” that will encourage gun control advocates to punish elected officials who don’t support gun control laws.

{mosads}The former Big Apple mayor said the idea is to use the same take-no-prisoners approach that has been successful for the NRA.

“They say, ‘We don’t care. We’re going to go after you,’” he said of the NRA in The New York Times. “‘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.’”

“We’ve got to make them afraid of us,” added Bloomberg, who made the announcement in an article published by the Times.

Bloomberg said he plans to spend at least $50 million this year to reduce gun violence through the group’s educational and advocacy efforts and personal expenditures.

He said he will make sure that those who prevent people from being protected will “lose elections.”

The goal is to sign up a million more supporters on top of the 1.5 million they already have. Bloomberg’s group will target 15 states including Colorado, Washington, Texas, Montana and Indiana where gun control legislation has either advanced recently or where the issue is more controversial.

“We really have to do something,” Bloomberg said on NBC’s “Today” show Wednesday. “It’s a heavy political lift.” 

More than 30,000 people in the United States are either murdered or commit suicide with guns, he said. “That’s the heavy lift.” 

The group will house the two other gun violence prevention organizations Bloomberg founded: Mayors Against Illegal Guns and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.

Bloomberg said his plan is “not about gun control,” but more about keeping guns out of the hands of criminals, minors and people with psychiatric issues.