If Michael Bloomberg’s pledge of $50 million to beat the NRA and his aggressive funding of Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG), Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America (MDA), and “Everytown for Gun Safety” teach conservatives anything, it’s that a tunnel-vision-like focus on Obamacare is a loser in November.
Conservatives are going to have to take up gun rights. They are going to have to champion and proudly own them as an expression of their commitment to the natural rights of the people defined in the Bill of Rights.
Bloomberg is making it clear he will be taking up gun rights from another angle: deriding and proudly championing further restrictions and regulations on the exercise of Second Amendment rights.
During an April 16th appearance on NBC’s Today show, Bloomberg said:
[Politicians] will vote for whatever they think is in their own self interest to get elected and re-elected. We’ve got to convince them that 80 percent of gun owners… [and] 90 percent of Americans… are in favor of just simple background checks… we’ve got to make them understand that that’s what the public wants and the public’s going to vote that way.
Conservatives must answer not only by standing for Second Amendment rights but by showing that the numbers Bloomberg quotes are not accurate. Yes, support for gun control was high immediately following the heinous crime at Sandy Hook Elementary, but by December 2013 Breitbart News reported a CNN poll showing opposition to gun control had grown by 23 percent. Moreover, the percentage of those who supported more gun control formed less than a majority at 49 percent.
The bottom line–gun rights are a winner for conservatives. They are path forward for a Republican party that wants to win the Senate and hold the House.
Make no mistake, when Bloomberg pledges $50 million to beat the NRA in November he is really pledging $50 million to cripple gun rights. It is time for conservatives to stand and fight.
Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter @AWRHawkins Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com
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