Charlie Spiering
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg promoted his new $50 million gun control campaign on NBC’s “Today” show this morning, in an aggressive financial push to fight the National Rifle Association’s influence on gun policy.
Bloomberg plans to use the money to merge his Mayors Against Illegal Guns and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America into a new group called “Everytown for Gun Safety.”
“This is not a battle of dollars, this is a battle for the hearts and minds of America so that we can protect our children, protect innocent people,” he said.
Bloomberg highlighted the amount of gun related deaths in America, explaining why he felt the need to continue fighting.
“We’re the only civilized country in the world that has this problem,” he said.
He also argued that he was not pushing for gun control, but rather keeping guns away from minors, criminals, and the mentally ill.
“It isn’t gun control. This is simply making sure that people everybody agrees should not be allowed to buy a gun – criminals, minors, and people with psychiatric problems – make sure they can’t buy guns – nobody is going to take anyone’s gun away nobody is going to stop you from hunting, target practice or protecting yourself,” he said.