He wants to build a rival to the NRA. Unfortunately, for that, you’d need actual grassroots, and I don’t mean a handful of mayors that have a higher rate of criminality than concealed carry permit holders. That said, MAIG is now the only gun control group out there who can give us a run for our money.
By way of illustration, a spokesman for the mayor sent over some examples of the group’s public lobbying efforts aimed at swingable officials, including a full-page ad in the Cleveland Plain Dealer inwhich 50 Ohio mayors implored then-senator George Voinovich to fight a provision very similar to the concealed-carry reciprocity now under consideration in Congress.
Voinovich subsequently voted against the amendment.
And Vionovich was forced into retirement because polls were showing he was going to lose. Was that all guns? No. But politics doesn’t work that way. As long as your coalition can swing close races then politicians will pay attention to you, because most races are close.
I’ve always been frustrated because our grassroots seem to be slow to wake up and slow to anger, but when something really hits a nerve, it leaves even me, who pays close attention to the issue, pretty surprised. On the issue of national reciprocity, the number of permit holders in the United States is roughly 5 to 6 million and climbing. There’s no politician in the world that wants to write off the votes of 5 to 6 million Americans out of the gate.
Old Bloomy might be on to something. He needs to start the group himself, seed it with some of his billions. He could sell memberships, from yearly to life, just like NRA does, and send you a wallet card and a car window sticker for joining up, as well as a subscription to their monthly magazine, Disarmed America. In its pages you could read favorites like “The Disarmed Citizen,” in which unarmed Americans face down robbers, rapists, home invaders and murderers, and…die.
I have always thought that the large number of concealed carry permit holders, a number that is nearly twice as large as as the purported NRA membership, is the great White Elephant in the room that both sides, but especially the anti-gun side, prefers to ignore. Take this quote from the article:
“The public sentiment isn’t there,” said Wilson. “It’s not an issue that’s of paramount importance right now, and again, without perceptions that crime is a serious problem and that somehow controlling guns can aid in that, absent those two things, you’re really fighting upstream.”
I think that in the event of crime rates increasing, we have a 7 million member constituency that have already decided that armed self-defense is a better option than increased limits on guns. I don’t see that demographic changing.
One thing that Bloomberg could really do that would at least be irritating, if not dangerous, to gun rights would be if Bloomberg takes a portion of his wealth to create a permanent endowment for MAIG, freeing the group from the need for grassroots fundraising. We would never get rid of it then.
Yeah, but funding will only get you so far.
Bloomberg and his kind are dangerous. I see him like a George soro the 2nd. Bloomberg changed the law to vote himself in a third term and he’s tired of being a dictator. He now wants his name and influence to leave a mark beyond that of a mayor. And he’s loaded with money.
The worse are the people who became well off in a free society, then turn around and make sure others don’t get to enjoy it.
The problem with “building a rival to the NRA” is that any bona fide pro-gun group would end up supporting the same positions the NRA endorses nearly 100% of the time, or at least supporting them with only small adjustments. So what would the draw be? You can’t be an anti-gun-rights pro-gun group–even with all Bloomberg’s money behind you. That said, the NRA would do well to stick to gun issues and stay above the rest of the conservative/liberal fray.
As for Obama’s record, the lack of a real Fast & Furious investigation coupled with the Sotomayor appointment tell me all I need to know, even if I can take my gun on Amtrak. If Obama wants gun owner’s attention, let alone any votes, he should publicly call on Reid to pass the reciprocity bill, call for a special prosecutor on F&F, and express at least as much disappoint in Sotomayor’s perjury in her senate testimony regarding gun rights and respect for precedent as he has on other recent Supreme Court behavior. Until then…
Didn’t they already try the “rival NRA” gambit?
The American Hunters and Shooters Association or something like that? Early ’90s?