Bloomberg group could target Washington, Oregon next

Examiner – by Dave Workman

Washington, Oregon and Minnesota “could be the next battlegrounds” for the kind of gun control promoted by anti-gun billionaire Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his Mayors Against Illegal Guns, according to a report in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal following Tuesday’s recall of two anti-gun Democrat state senators in Colorado.

In the aftermath of that political wake-up call, the Los Angeles Times acknowledged in an analysis by reporter Mark Barabas that gun control proponents want to make firearms less available. It is a startling admission by a newspaper that has been consistently and decidedly anti-gun-rights, and it unintentionally confirms what gun rights advocates have been saying about the gun control movement for decades: They are not interested in controlling crime, they want to take guns out of circulation, and that includes guns owned by law-abiding citizens.  

Washington gun owners should be particularly concerned about the threat from MAIG, because so far, it does not appear that Bloomberg has opened his wallet to support Initiative 594, the 15-page gun control measure being pushed by the Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility. WAGR, according to Public Disclosure Commission reports through the end of August, hasraised $983,172.99 and spent $833,732.07. A bit of math shows that more than $510,000 of that money was spent on gathering signatures.

The recall Tuesday of two Colorado senators, targeted because they voted to strengthen the state’s gun restrictions, was just the latest setback for those seeking to reduce gun violence by making firearms less available.”—Los Angeles Times

Contributions include $165,000 from Seattle venture capitalist Nick Hanauer, another $50,000 from Lenore Hanauer, and another $50,000 from a retired Medina resident, Jon Shirley. Five other people contributed $25,000 apiece, one other person kicked in $24,000 and a family trust added $15,000. There are several $10,000 donations and a lot of $5,000 contributions – primarily from people living in and around Seattle – all reinforcing the notion that the I-594 effort is bankrolled by a bunch of Jet City fat cats interested in dictating their philosophy, but probably not their wealthy lifestyle, to the nearly 7 million Washington residents including more than 442,000 who are licensed to carry concealed pistols.

Nowhere in the PDC report is Bloomberg’s name to be found. He spent a reported $350,000 in theColorado recall battle, which his side lost. He wants to win, and there is nothing stopping him from spending that much or more in the Pacific Northwest.

WAGR has been spending tens of thousands of dollars on consulting. According to Examiner’s pocket calculator, the pricetag so far for consultants is more than $95,500 paid out to several different firms, based on the PDC reports.

Reading reports in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Los Angeles Times, one gets the sense that gun prohibitionists, including Bloomberg and perhaps even the newspapers, themselves, are living in some state of denial.

The WSJ quoted Bloomberg insisting, “This election does not reflect the will of Coloradans, a majority of whom strongly support background checks and opposed these recalls.”

He neglects to explain that voters in two legislative districts served by Sens. John Morse and Angela Giron, respectively, expressed their will, and that’s what counted. All politics is local, according to late House Speaker Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill. Besides, who is Bloomberg to speak about the “will of Coloradans?” Gun owners in Cortez or Golden, Craig or Grand Junction might observe, “He ain’t from around here.”

The Los Angeles Times reported that “Recall opponents also pointed to the way the election was conducted. There was no voting by mail, the way the vast majority of Coloradans are accustomed to casting their ballots. That marked a court victory for recall proponents, as it required residents of the two Senate districts to show up and vote in person, giving an advantage to the more fired-up pro-gun forces.”

Recall opponents seem miffed that election officials required proof of residence in the two legislative districts where the recall elections were held, quite possibly to assure the integrity of the vote and prevent fraud.

The New York Times lamented, “As members of a resolute Democratic statehouse majority, the two showed more political courage in facing up to the gun mayhem afflicting the nation than the Congress did in April in its shameful retreat from tightening gun laws that allow tens of thousands of deaths each year.

“The recalled lawmakers knew the gun lobby would pounce on their votes,” the newspaper said, “but they stood up for the badly needed laws that Congress ducked. Mr. Morse, a former police chief, helped lead the charge against the battlefield-styled weapons used in the school massacre in Newtown, Conn., and in Colorado’s own carnage last year at the Aurora movie theater.”

The New York Times calls them “exemplary models of responsible public service.” The editorial overlooks the fact that Giron was replaced by George Rivera, a former Pueblo police officer, and Morse is replaced by Bernie Herpin, a former Colorado Springs city councilman, according to MSN News. That suggests that the two new senators also have records of “responsible public service.”

All three newspaper pieces are from yesterday, showing that less than 24 hours after the stinging defeat for the gun prohibition lobby, the spin is in.

That spin machine may now shift its focus to Washington and neighboring Oregon, if the WSJ report is accurate.

http://www.examiner.com/article/bloomberg-group-could-target-washington-oregon-next