For Bloomberg, Gun Control Fight Shifts to State Capitals

Now he is representing the ultimate city slicker, Michael R. Bloomberg, the mayor of New York, who, undaunted by defeat in Congress, is taking his campaign for stricter gun laws to the nation’s state capitals, including here, where a bill to expand the use of criminal background checks is before the State Legislature.  

“I thought, ‘Heck, that’s going to be a tough battle,’ ” Mr. Griffin said. “But for a man with unmatchable resources, there’s good reason to be hopeful.”

Fortified by several million dollars in contributions that have come in since the Newtown school massacre in December, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, the national coalition Mr. Bloomberg co-founded and finances, says it has deployed more than 50 people across the country, building grass-roots organizations and dispatching foot soldiers to pressure local politicians.

In Washington State, where a Bloomberg-backed background-checks bill was defeated in the Legislature this year, the coalition is assisting with a ballot initiative on the same issue. In Oregon, the group has hired lobbyists to revive long-stalled legislation to regulate private gun sales. In Colorado, where the coalition helped pass stricter gun laws this year, it is preparing to defend lawmakers against a recall effort pushed by the National Rifle Association.

Mr. Bloomberg faces an uphill battle — many of the states he seeks to influence are places where guns are dear and New York is not. He is going up against well-organized networks of gun enthusiasts, with scores of rural voters eager to block his every move.

Some lobbyists working on behalf of the mayors’ coalition say they have been given a piece of cautionary advice: avoid mentioning Mr. Bloomberg’s name, for fear that it could alienate potential allies. “I don’t think we’ve ever used the word Bloomberg,” Mr. Griffin said.

Although the coalition says it did not instruct lobbyists to omit the mayor’s name, it is clear that Mr. Bloomberg’s high profile has made him the focal point of much of the anger that has accompanied the debate over gun rights. On Wednesday, New York City authorities revealed that the mayor and his coalition had been sent letters tainted with the deadly poison ricin, prompting a federal investigation examining whether the letters were linked to a similar one that had been addressed to President Obama.

Despite repeated setbacks to his efforts to pass gun laws, Mr. Bloomberg has vowed to accelerate his campaign, even after his mayoralty ends in December. The issue is important not only nationally, but also locally, his aides say, because 85 percent of the guns used in crimes in New York City are acquired out-of-state.

“We don’t give up,” said John Feinblatt, who oversees Mayors Against Illegal Guns and serves as Mr. Bloomberg’s chief policy adviser. “We’re here for the long haul.”

The coalition would not offer details on how much it is spending on state efforts, and Mr. Griffin, who was approached a few weeks ago by an emissary for the group, declined to say how much his firm was being paid. The coalition has spent tens of thousands of dollars on television ads in Nevada — a relatively inexpensive media market.

The mayor, whose net worth is estimated at $27 billion, has repeatedly demonstrated his willingness to use his money to fight for gun control. Last year, he bankrolled an $11 million campaign largely focused on building support for federal regulations to reduce gun violence, and this year, his political action committee spent $2.3 million to defeat candidates who opposed gun control in a special election for an Illinois House seat. Also this year, the mayors’ coalition hired a team in Minnesota and pushed, unsuccessfully, for expanded use of background checks. It helped lead successful efforts in more liberal states, including Maryland, Delaware and Connecticut.

In Carson City, lawmakers credit Mr. Bloomberg with jump-starting a gun bill that had stalled in Nevada, even though both chambers of the Legislature are controlled by Democrats. The bill, modest by standards in more liberal states, would require criminal background checks in private gun sales, including at gun shows and online; currently, background checks are mandatory only if a gun is purchased through a licensed dealer.

Mr. Bloomberg’s team coordinated a phone call campaign to legislators, flew in families affected by gun violence to meet with lawmakers, and provided advice on minimizing the cost of background checks.