Gun control initiatives pushed by Michael Bloomberg-funded Everytown for Gun Safety are on the ballot in four states this November. The NRA sees this as evidence that Bloomberg is simply buying the gun control Congress has repeatedly rejected.
The four states with gun control initiatives are Washington, California, Maine and Nevada. In Washington, the initiative would expand bans on gun ownership by changing language tied to domestic violence and “extreme risk protection orders.” This push comes just two years after Bloomberg’s Everytown donated one million to secure universal background checks in Washington state.
In California, the ballot initiative concerns the implementation of a type of ammunition background check that differs from the one Governor Jerry Brown (D) signed on July 1. In Maine and Nevada, the ballot initiatives would implement the same failed universal background checks that already exist in California and Washington state.
According to The Hill, Everytown for Gun Safety spokeswoman Kate Folmar said, “2016 will be the year of gun sense. If elected leaders themselves won’t change the laws that make it too easy for dangerous people to get weapons, the American people will change them themselves.” She explained that Everytown is trying to mimic the state-by-state methods used to secure gay marriage with the hopes of securing enough gun control to bring added pressure on federal officials.
The NRA’s Jennifer Baker suggested these gun control initiatives are just the newest incarnation of a gun control push that has failed miserably with Congress over the past few years. If anything, she believes the new push proves Bloomberg is willing to buy what he cannot secure through other means. Baker said, “After decades of legislative and electoral defeat, the gun control lobby has resorted to buying gun control by spending [Michael] Bloomberg’s billions to impose his New York style gun-control through the ballot initiative process.”
It should be noted that the ballot initiatives are a testimony to the insidious nature of gun control laws. Washington state just implemented universal background checks in 2014, yet those are already not enough–now Bloomberg and his gun control surrogates want to extend the list of people banned from gun possession. California already has universal background checks, firearm registration requirements, confiscation laws, an “assault weapons” ban, and a recently signed “high capacity” magazine ban, so gun control proponents are now trying to control ammunition purchases. The same insidiousness will take root in Nevada and Maine if either state adopts universal background checks.
AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
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