Firearms Owners Against Crime
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Michael Bloomberg’s pet gun control group Everytown for Gun Safety has vowed to spend at least $60-million in this year’s elections, and the New York Times is reporting that the first $15-million of that anti-gun war chest will be spent in places where the Second Amendment has been fairly secure in recent years. The gun control group says it’s earmarked at least $5-million in the state of Florida, where the group will be promoting Joe Biden’s presidential campaign, and an initial $3.5-million investment in Texas targeting a half-dozen races for the U.S. House.
The group will also be targeting races in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Iowa, Arizona, and North Carolina, and could expand their focus as we get closer to the elections in November. In the meantime, expect a lot of Everytown ads to pop up on Facebook and other online outlets.
The organization’s focus on digital advertising comes during what its top political aides said was the fastest change in media consumption habits since the dawn of the digital age. With millions of Americans homebound because of the pandemic, nearly half of all television consumption is now on streaming platforms.
“2020 looks more like 2025,” said Charlie Kelly, a senior Everytown political adviser.
Mr. Kelly estimated that the cost to reach voters on digital platforms across enough competitive state legislative districts to flip a state chamber was a fraction of the resources required in a federal or statewide race. Mr. Kelly said Everytown would spend to help Mr. Biden in Florida, but not elsewhere, after consultation with other Democratic super PACs, like Priorities USA, that would take responsibility for different states.
“The goal is to win and everybody comes to the table to do that,” Mr. Kelly said. “Post-2016, people were like, ‘We got to get ourselves together on that front.’”
I seem to recall a lot of complaints that Second Amendment organizations like the NRA were just fronts for the Republican Party, but here’s Everytown for Gun Safety working hand-in-hand with Democratic super PACs to help elect Joe Biden in November, and I’m guessing we won’t hear a peep of protest from any watchdogs.
We also won’t be hearing any complaints from candidates about getting their Bloomberg bucks, even though Bloomberg himself has seen his star diminish on the Left since his disastrous attempt to run for president ended earlier this year. The anti-gun billionaire received criticism over his previous support for things like stop-and-frisk, though no candidate or mainstream media outlet connected the dots between that activity and the gun control laws that were enforced through the practice.
Regardless of how much Democrats may want to defund or end policing, the vast majority of them are still fully on board with passing any and every gun control law pushed by Everytown and their anti-gun allies. Is that an ideological contradiction? Of course, but there’ll be time enough to worry about that after the election is over. For Democrat candidates, now’s the time to soak up as much campaign cash as possible, even if it’s coming from an anti-gun billionaire whose gun laws have had a disproportionate impact on low-income Americans and racial minorities.
Cam Edwards has covered the 2nd Amendment for more than 15 years as a broadcast and online journalist, as well as the co-author of "Heavy Lifting: Grow Up, Get a Job, Start a Family, and Other Manly Advice" with Jim Geraghty. He lives outside of Farmville, Virginia with his family. https://bearingarms.com/author/camedwards/
https://bearingarms.com/cam-e/2020/07/23/bloomberg-anti-gun-ad-blitz/