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Mike Bloomberg on Gun Control

Mayor of New York City (Independent)

 


Second Amendment has guarantees, but gun restrictions ok

Q: What can you do to bring commonsense gun control into law and close all the loopholes with and without Congress?

BLOOMBERG: Well, we have created an organization, Everytown for Gun Violence. It has six million members across the country. A subgroup within it is something called Moms Demand Action. And what we have done so far is, we have about 20 states that now have background checks, and also red flag laws. Unfortunately, last time I checked, there were 50 states in the union, and we still have 30 to go. And it would be easier if we could do this at a federal level. The Second Amendment gives you the right to bear arms. But the Supreme Court has said, there are reasonable restrictions that we can put on that privilege without violating the Constitution. The reasonable privileges include things like having background checks, so you don't sell guns to minors, to people with psychiatric problems, or people with criminal records.

Source: CNN S. C. Town Hall for 2020 Presidential primary , Feb 26, 2020

Sue gun stores which don't require background checks

[We need federal] background checks, so you don't sell guns to minors, to people with psychiatric problems, or people with criminal records. If you just took 24 hours to go through the background check, you would make a very big difference in this country.

The federal law requires you to have a background check before you can buy a gun in this country if you buy it from a gun store. Right now, you can't go into a gun store and buy it, a gun, if you have psychiatric problems, you're a criminal or a minor.

And, in fact, what my organization has done is, we sent undercover people into these stores to see whether or not they would insist on a background check. And when they didn't, we sued them. And you can measure the fact that they have really done something.

Source: CNN S. C. Town Hall for 2020 Presidential primary , Feb 26, 2020

Close "boyfriend loophole," pass national red flag law

Mike's plan will require point-of-sale background checks for all gun sales and finally close the private sale loophole, which enables prohibited people to buy guns simply by finding unlicensed sellers at gun shows or on the Internet. It will require every gun buyer to get a permit before making a purchase. It will use sales records to identify crime guns and notify local police when individuals have been prohibited from having a gun.

Mike's plan will close the "boyfriend loophole" which allows domestic abusers to have guns, despite criminal convictions or restraining orders--simply because they are not married to their victims. It will pass a federal red flag law that expands extreme risk orders to 50 states. It will require gun buyers to be at least 21 years old to buy handguns and semi-automatic rifles and shotguns. And it will set a temporary ban on gun possession by assault and other violent misdemeanor offenders.

Source: 2020 Presidential campaign website MikeBloomberg.com , Jan 20, 2020

Ban assault weapons; hold gun industry accountable

Mike will reinstate the federal ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines; current assault weapons owners will be allowed to keep their guns but will have to report them to federal officials. He will require secure storage of firearms when they are not in use, which has been shown to reduce the risk of child gun injuries by up to 85 percent. He will also ban all guns in K-12 schools, colleges, and universities--except for law enforcement.

Mike's plan will repeal the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) so that gunmakers and gun dealers will no longer have broad immunity from civil lawsuits. It will allow the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to treat guns like other household products so that the federal government will have the power to set safety requirements for gun technology. It will formally declare the gun violence crisis to be a public health emergency to expedite funds and research.

Source: 2020 Presidential campaign website MikeBloomberg.com , Jan 20, 2020

Bloomberg group favors closing background check loopholes

Bloomberg's Everytown for Gun Safety, which he helped found in 2014, has become a powerful voice in the battle over gun legislation. The group has identified a number of issues it views as key to limiting gun violence, including closing loopholes around background checks and limiting illegal gun trafficking from states with weaker gun laws.
Source: CNBC's coverage of on 2019 Democratic primary , Nov 24, 2019

Gun laws effective but no one law will stop everything

No one law is going to stop everything, but there's just no question when you put in background checks, suicides with guns and murder rates go down. When you get rid of assault weapons you stop the mass murders. These are not public health things. This is too much of access to guns and particularly to assault weapons, which were designed to kill the maximum number of people as quickly as possible, and as gruesomely as you could possibly do it.
Source: CBS Face the Nation interview for 2019 Democratic primary , Aug 11, 2019

80% of NRA members support background checks

Q: 100 days after the Newtown massacre, the assault weapons ban has been taken out of the Senate bill. Here's what you said right after Newtown:

[Video] BLOOMBERG: The NRA's power is so vastly overrated. The public want to stop this carnage. And if 20 kids isn't enough to convince them, I don't know what would.[End]

Q: Do you fear that the moment that was created by Newtown has been lost?

BLOOMBERG: It would be a great tragedy if it is lost. I am cautiously optimistic. You have an issue where 90% of the public, 80% of NRA members even, say that they think we should have reasonable checks before people are allowed to buy guns--they all support the 2nd Amendment, as do I. But we have to stop the carnage.

Do you think the assault weapons ban is going to pass?

BLOOMBERG: We've been fighting since 2007 to get a vote. And if we were to [pass] background checks only, it wouldn't be as good as if we got both, but we're going to get the vote for sure on assault weapons.

Source: Meet the Press 2013 interviews: 2016 presidential hopefuls , Mar 24, 2013

Background checks do work, and should be highest priority

Q: It looks like Congress won't ban assault weapons, but might get better background checks on the sale of these weapons.

BLOOMBERG: The truth of the matter is only about 400 people a year get killed with assault weapons or high-capacity magazines. That is 400 too many, but you compare that to handguns, pistols, this year, are going to kill 12,000 Americans. There are 14 states that have background checks required for all sales. 14 states have closed the federal loophole, and in those 14 states the suicide rate is half the national average and the number of women that get killed in domestic violence is 40% less than in other states. So background checks do work.

Q: Why is it so hard to get the Congress to do it?

BLOOMBERG: Because, up until now, it has only been the NRA that has been talking about guns to the public & to Congress. And I'm trying to level the playing field and bring out the facts. The truth of the matter is the NRA itself, a few years ago, was in favor of background checks.

Source: CBS Face the Nation 2013 series: 2016 presidential hopefuls , Mar 10, 2013

2006: Created Mayors Against Illegal Guns; now 600 mayors

In 2006, Menino and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg created Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a coalition that advocates for stricter gun-control laws and now includes more than 600 mayors from 40 states. Menino touted the Boston's recent success in this area, telling reporters that police have taken more than 360 illegal guns off the streets.
Source: Alex Katz in Boston Globe, "Stricter Checks" , Nov 15, 2011

Sued out-of-state gun dealers for selling illegally in NYC

Building on his first term, Bloomberg broadened his scope and once again thought big and bold. He sued out-of-state gun dealers, accusing them of illegally selling handguns that were later used to commit crimes in NYC. He did battle against weak federal gun laws, created a national coalition of mayors to fight illegal weapons -useful to raise awareness, although really effective gun control demands national legislation.

His suits were often settled and drew the fury of the National Rifle Association, whose magazine pictured the mayor as a menacing octopus and held a "Bloomberg Gun Giveaway" to help dealers pay the legal fees defending against Bloomberg's lawsuits. His demonization by the NRA was priceless in liberal NY.

Source: Bloomberg: Money, Power, Politics, by J.Purnick, p.158-159 , Sep 28, 2010

Enact common-sense measures to keep guns away from criminals

Gillibrand used to irritate liberals. On the day she was appointed to the Senate, New York mayor Michael Bloomberg attacked her opposition to gun control: "She has actively opposed the efforts of New York City, and cities around the state and nation, to enact common-sense measures that keep illegal guns out of the hands of criminals. For instance, she has voted to keep critical data needed to track illegal gun traffickers from law enforcement, has voted to tie the hands of the ATF, and has also voted to protect dealers who sell guns illegally."

But as a new senator, Gillibrand was transformed from a rabid opponent of gun control--with a 100% rating from the National Rifle Association--to a cosponsor of gun control legislation. In 2007, she had sponsored a bill to delete background check information after twenty-four hours; now she suddenly voted to repeal her very own bill.

Source: Take Back America, by Dick Morris, p.183 , Apr 13, 2010

Put the issue of illegal guns back on the national agenda

This year, we’ll also use technology to fight the #1 public safety threat in our city--and in all cities: illegal guns. Our bi-partisan coalition of Mayors Against Illegal Guns has put the issue of illegal guns back on the national agenda--beating back federal legislation that would have made it easier to traffic in illegal guns. Convincing the federal ATF to release some of the critical trace data our officers need to track the flow of guns across state lines.
Source: 2008 State of the City Address , Jan 17, 2008

2nd Amendment doesn’t prevent keeping guns from criminals

Illegal guns is an example of cities leading where Washington has not. Those in Washington prefer talk to action. On illegal guns, they extol the virtues of the Second Amendment, but let’s get serious: protecting the Second Amendment does not stop you from keeping illegal guns out of the hands of criminals. It’s just a political duck-and-cover that allows legislators to escape responsibility for fixing a serious problem and innocent people--and police officers--are dying as a result.
Source: Keynote Address to the US Conference of Mayors , Nov 2, 2007

Founder of Mayors Against Illegal Guns

Bloomberg is a strong advocate of gun control and made it a major issue of his administration in his second inaugural address. Bloomberg once said, “I don’t know why people carry guns. Guns kill people.” Bloomberg is also a co-chair and founder of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, an organization of 210 mayors who claim to work only towards eradicating the use of illegal firearms by criminals.
Source: Wikipedia.org entry, “Michael_Bloomberg” , May 2, 2007

It’s not about gun control, it’s about crime control

Every day, nearly 30 people are murdered in the US. We ask ourselves, what can be done to stop this kind of gun violence? As mayor, I have asked myself that question many times. In NYC, we’ve cut murders by 40%. The fact is that most crimes are committed with illegal weapons--and that is where the new gun debate is, or at least should be, centered. In New York, we aggressively go after these guns, but no city can stop the flow of illegal firearms alone. These are national problems that require national leadership.

Unfortunately, in recent years, combating gun crime hasn’t been a priority of this Justice Department or Congress. Most gun dealers follow the law and run honest businesses. But the statistics show that 1% of dealers sell more than half of all illegal guns. Why isn’t the federal government going after them?

There’s common ground on this issue for anyone who is willing to look at it honestly, not ideologically. This isn’t about gun control. It’s about crime control.

Source: By Michael Bloomberg in Newsweek: “The Changing Gun Debate” , Apr 30, 2007

Sued New York City gun dealers to control guns

Bloomberg supports gun control, has raised taxes, backs same-sex marriage and signed a law banning the use of trans fats in fast-food restaurants. The mayor once filed suit on behalf of the city against two dozen gun dealers.
Source: Michael D. Shear, Washington Post, p. A1 on 2008 election , Mar 25, 2007

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Other big-city mayors on Gun Control: Mike Bloomberg on other issues:

Tom Barrett (D,Milwaukee)
Bill de Blasio (D,NYC)
Rahm Emanuel (D,Chicago)
Bob Filner (D,San Diego)
Steven Fulop (D,Jersey City)
Eric Garcetti (D,Los Angeles)
Mike Rawlings (D,Dallas)
Marty Walsh (D,Boston)

Former Mayors:
Rocky Anderson (I,Salt Lake City)
Tom Barrett (D,Milwaukee,WI)
Mike Bloomberg (I,New York City)
Cory Booker (D,Newark,NJ)
Jerry Brown (D,Oakland,CA)
Julian Castro (D,San Antonio,TX)
Rudy Giuliani (R,New York City)
Phil Gordon (D,Phoenix)
Tom Menino (D,Boston)
Dennis Kucinch (D,Cleveland,OH)
Michael Nutter (D,Philadelphia)
Sarah Palin (R,Wasilla,AK)
Annise Parker (D,Houston)
Jerry Sanders (R,San Diego)
Antonio Villaraigosa (D,Los Angeles)
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Page last updated: Mar 25, 2021