# Know Thy Enemy: NRA's New $50 MILLION Nemesis Emerges



## JBS (Apr 16, 2014)

Michael Bloomberg, the New York mayor responsible for trying to outlaw the sale of soft drinks larger than 16oz. in a _"free"_ country, is now setting his sights on his favorite issue: Gun control.

To do that, he's committed $50 million to form a brand new organization, the sole purpose of which is to advance gun control using methods similar to the National Rifle Association. 

This will be no ordinary gun control legislation effort; it's going to be organized, well funded, and sustained, using two main tactics: influencing the female vote, and attempting to intimidate lawmakers who are on the fence about gun control.




> Bloomberg told the Times that this new group will try to use the NRA’s own tactics against them, penalizing lawmakers whose stances on gun rights differ from the organization’s. “We’ve got to make them afraid of us,” is how he put it.
> 
> The former mayor also said that the effort will deviate from the standard playbook for gun control advocates, throwing less money into television campaigns and more money into field operations to drive single-issue voters, *focusing primarily on female voters. *
> 
> The group will initially focus on 15 states, including Colorado, Washington, Texas, Montana, and Indiana.


http://www.thewire.com/national/201...ntrol-organization-to-take-on-the-nra/360728/


*"We've got to make them afraid of us."*


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## AWP (Apr 16, 2014)

I heard this on the radio. The announcement should surprise no one and I hope the NRA has anticipated this move. The Nov. elections will be a nasty fight.


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## Salt USMC (Apr 21, 2014)

Gun store owners must love this stuff.


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## Chopstick (Apr 21, 2014)

This was cute.
http://www.guns.com/2014/04/17/pro-gun-group-scoops-bloomberg-grabs-everytown-facebook-page/



> A gun rights advocate claimed the “Everytown for gun safety” Facebook page before the newly formed Michael Bloomberg-backed group hopped on it.
> 
> The page launched shortly after Moms Demand Action and Mayors Against Illegal Guns merged on April 16, creating the Everytown group.
> 
> “Saw Bloomberg was creating another gun control group. So I took the page name before they had the chance. If you don’t like the 2nd amendment – LEAVE,” reads the first post of the page.


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## JBS (Apr 23, 2014)

Deathy McDeath said:


> Gun store owners must love this stuff.


That's an interesting way to look at it.  

Do you think gun rights activists should drop their activism, and just ignore liberals when they try to advance gun control legislation?  I think a $50 million organization like the one Bloomberg is putting together is a legitimate and formidable potential threat to gun owners.


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## AWP (Apr 23, 2014)

JBS said:


> Do you think gun rights activists should drop their activism, and just ignore liberals when they try to advance gun control legislation?  I think a $50 million organization like the one Bloomberg is putting together is a legitimate and formidable potential threat to gun owners.


 
It certainly is a threat, but gun store owners and ammo suppliers make a mint everytime something threatens the 2A.

---

As an aside, I laugh at people who think a contractor in Afghanistan is a war profiteer but someone who turns an inflated profit over a hurricane or this debate or some other emergency is G2G.


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## TLDR20 (Apr 23, 2014)

Luckily for the NRA 50 mil is only a quarter of its budget.


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## JBS (Apr 23, 2014)

I'm bothered by the profit taking (surrounding hurricanes or 2A threats) to an extent.   The general outrage is proportionate to the level of abuse.   So a $25 gallon of water  (2500% increase) sold post-natural disaster is more offensive than a gun dealer adding 25% to his SS109 stockpile.

But I'm much more disturbed that every new wave of liberal gun-grabbing BS ends with some level of success.  These wins are infrequent, but regular marks of progress.

To put it simply there are more gun regulations today than there were 10 years ago.  There are more gun free zones now than there were 10 years ago.   This is especially true in the areas that suffered after mass shootings where liberals have capitalized off the emotions immediately following those events.   They aren't succeeding at the Federal level in terms of mass confiscation, but the erosion is happening, a little here and a little there.


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## x SF med (Apr 23, 2014)

Hmmmm, where would this country have been without guns say 244 or even 238 years ago?   Oh, that's right it would still be Britain and we wouldn't have guns anyway.

Bloomberg is an idiot, he needs to drink a 64 oz soda and go to a range and just chill out.  Or walk unarmed and unescorted through Hell's Kitchen in his $6000 suit at 3am on a Saturday morning...   Maybe then he'd change his mind about legal firearms ownership.


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## Salt USMC (Sep 29, 2014)

Pertinent thread ressurection:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/frankmi...-dollar-desire-for-gun-control-is-backfiring/
*How Bloomberg's Million-Dollar Desire For Gun Control Is Backfiring*


> With the midterms just over a month away New York City’s former mayor Michael Bloomberg is spending at least $50 million to make his gun-control agenda part of this election. His gun-control group Everytown for Gun Safety has endorsed more than 100 federal and state candidates. They are also running television commercials, holding events and pushing their studies into the newsrooms of a mostly favorable press.
> 
> John Feinblatt, Everytown’s president, told USA Today, “We want gun safety to be an issue that people vote on.”
> 
> ...



I've said it before and I will say it again: gun control is not an issue that (Democratic) campaigns are willing to stake their votes on.  The cultural zeitgeist in America just doesn't support it right now.  I'm not saying that gun control advocates aren't going to win, but the kind of sweeping changes that Bloomberg is looking to implement through his $50 million gamble just will not happen.


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## AWP (Sep 29, 2014)

Deathy McDeath said:


> Pertinent thread ressurection:
> 
> http://www.forbes.com/sites/frankmi...-dollar-desire-for-gun-control-is-backfiring/
> *How Bloomberg's Million-Dollar Desire For Gun Control Is Backfiring*
> ...


 
No, but they will try with all of the ripples from their efforts playing out over time. They are too stubborn or stupid to see the second and third order effects (a run on gun purchases, ammo shortages, another chance for the NRA and other pro-2A groups to counter their BS), but will keep at it like kamikazes...


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## JBS (Oct 5, 2014)

Deathy McDeath said:


> Pertinent thread ressurection:
> 
> http://www.forbes.com/sites/frankmi...-dollar-desire-for-gun-control-is-backfiring/
> *How Bloomberg's Million-Dollar Desire For Gun Control Is Backfiring*
> ...


Not immediately worried about all out gun bans.  Extreme measures like that would equal civil war instantly.

More concerned about the erosion of gun rights at the hands of the Far Left; they've steadily been able to advance their cause, in part, due to a "tuned-out" center/moderate population that are simply not vigilant, or not aware/concerned about the consequences that come from loss of gun rights.

I'm also concerned about the changing demographics in America (influx of unassimilated immigrants with no loyalty to America).   Two decades ago, people came here because they wanted to be American.  I grew up in Miami, and had so many family friends who escaped Communist Cuba, and whose families came here to be American.  Now most of the immigrants I meet don't even bother referring to themselves as American, they just work here and send money back "home".   America isn't home to them.  They'll stay 10 or 20 years, make money and then leave.   Many of the ones that do stay aren't the least bit indoctrinated in the ideals of freedom that we used to aspire to.   I'm convinced people aren't flocking to enter this country for the same reasons they once did.   They could care less about gun rights, and come from countries where such rights don't exist anyway.

The Liberal-dominated education system in America (which is producing very poorly educated high school grads by the millions) is no longer emphasizing what were once "classic" American values (including a reverence for the Constitution and the Founding Fathers).  Perhaps no greater example of a once-classic American value is the erosion of self-reliance/self-determination- out of which all other "classic" American values spring.  Instead of self-reliance and ownership of one's condition, we now live in a society that is dominated by reliance on the government, community programs, and dependence on "the system".   It's a huge shift in paradigm, and it's happened over a 20 year span.  Personal responsibility isn't as important as being given "access" to this program, or that.

Politically, the climate is toxic.  There's a decade long (relatively new) trend to demonize anyone on the Right who protests or demonstrates as "extremists".   The strategy originates with the Far Left crew that came together just before the Obama camp was formed.  *The Right cannot presently protest without instantly being labeled as "extremist" or "racist".  * A perfect example of that was the Tea Party.   Overnight, they mobilized and almost instantly were countered by the Left, and Left-leaning media as "racists" and "extremists"- hilbillies and homophobes and every other juvenile label possible.

An all out ban isn't possible, but the attacks on the 2nd Amendment will certainly come.


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## Marine0311 (Oct 6, 2014)

I don't like any of this.  To often I hear that if you like guns the Left will call you all sorts of childish names. I'll be renewing my NRA membership also. I feel helpless that I don't have the power to do more.


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## Gunz (Oct 6, 2014)

JBS said:


> ...I'm also concerned about the changing demographics in America (influx of unassimilated immigrants with no loyalty to America).   Two decades ago, people came here because they wanted to be American.  I grew up in Miami, and had so many family friends who escaped Communist Cuba, and whose families came here to be American.  Now most of the immigrants I meet don't even bother referring to themselves as American, they just work here and send money back "home".   America isn't home to them...They could care less about gun rights, and come from countries where such rights don't exist...


 
QUOTED FOR TRUTH


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## 104TN (Oct 6, 2014)

This affront on the 2nd Amendment by Bloomberg and his ilk is dangerous not just because it threatens to erode one of the last bastions for the preservation of personal liberty promised by our Constitution, but because of the foundation it lays for nullifying other rights. If the 2nd Amendment is repealed it won't be because of a shift in morality, an outpouring of public support, or even because of some legal precedent - it'll be because those on the right have come to embrace silence as the best retort to those on the left whenever their opinions differ.


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## TLDR20 (Oct 6, 2014)

I'm glad we have @JBS  to speak for an entire generation of immigrants.


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## 104TN (Oct 6, 2014)

JBS said:


> I'm also concerned about the changing demographics in America (influx of unassimilated immigrants with no loyalty to America).   Two decades ago, people came here because they wanted to be American.  I grew up in Miami, and had so many family friends who escaped Communist Cuba, and whose families came here to be American.  Now most of the immigrants I meet don't even bother referring to themselves as American, they just work here and send money back "home".   America isn't home to them.  They'll stay 10 or 20 years, make money and then leave.   Many of the ones that do stay aren't the least bit indoctrinated in the ideals of freedom that we used to aspire to.   I'm convinced people aren't flocking to enter this country for the same reasons they once did.   They could care less about gun rights, and come from countries where such rights don't exist anyway.



The agenda for the wholesale naturalization of illegals is being championed by many of the same politicians pushing for bans on voter ID laws and the nullification of the 2nd Amendment. Coincidence?

Think about the end-game too. These folks (here for whatever reason) are being told, " Si se puede, si votamos! Yes we can, if we vote!" The world is their oyster, all they need to do is allow themselves to be wielded as blunt instruments for one parties political gain to get it. Feeling marginalized yet?


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## TLDR20 (Oct 6, 2014)

rick said:


> The agenda for the wholesale naturalization of illegals is being championed by many of the same politicians pushing for bans on voter ID laws and the nullification of the 2nd Amendment. Coincidence?
> 
> Think about the end-game too. These folks (here for whatever reason) are being told, " Si se puede, si votamos! Yes we can, if we vote!" The world is their oyster, all they need to do is allow themselves to be wielded as blunt instruments for one parties political gain to get it. Feeling marginalized yet?



Y'all can call bullshit but this same stuff has happened before and will happen again. Be it Italians, Irish, Chinese, or various other immigrants, they have been coming for a long time and for as long as America is a beacon of opportunity they will continue to come.


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## x SF med (Oct 6, 2014)

rick said:


> This affront on the 2nd Amendment by Bloomberg and his ilk is dangerous not just because it threatens to erode one of the last bastions for the preservation of personally liberty promised by our Constitution, but because of the foundation it lays for nullifying other rights. If the 2nd Amendment is repealed it won't be because of a shift in morality, an outpouring of public support, or even because of some legal precedent - it'll be because those on the right have come to embrace silence as the best retort to those on the left whenever their opinions differ.




It is no more than the powerful securing their power through benevolent tyranny couched as concern.  Bloomberg wants to be the de-facto emperor ad-causem of the US without the bother of elections, a Midas or a Nimrod is more his style, purchase the hearts of the people in order to control them.


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## JBS (Oct 8, 2014)

TLDR20 said:


> I'm glad we have @JBS  to speak for an entire generation of immigrants.



By what manner of twisting and turning the meaning of my post could you possibly come to that conclusion??

Ah, yes.  I see.  By utterly and completely ignoring the actual text.


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## Gunz (Oct 8, 2014)

You may have painted with too broad a brush but I agree with the general sentiment, that's why I quoted your post. Perception is half of reality and this is what many of us perceive. I'd wager that most legal immigrants become more patriotic and grateful to be here because they remember too well what they left behind. But they are not the ones we see on the news. TLDR20 is keeping things in perspective.

The assholes of the world get their mugs on TV. And they're the ones we visualize. 



.


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## TLDR20 (Oct 8, 2014)

JBS said:


> By what manner of twisting and turning the meaning of my post could you possibly come to that conclusion??
> 
> Ah, yes.  I see.  By utterly and completely ignoring the actual text.


By you making vast and complete generalizations and portraying them as facts.


JBS said:


> I'm also concerned about the changing demographics in America (influx of unassimilated immigrants with no loyalty to America)


I am glad we have you to tell us who has, or doesn't have loyalty to our country.  I like your use of the term unassimilated, I wonder how many generations it typically takes to become assimilated, I am almost sure it isn't zero, most early American immigrants from European nations took 3-4 generations before becoming assimilated. http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/assimilation-models-old-and-new-explaining-long-term-process



JBS said:


> Two decades ago, people came here because they wanted to be American.


And you have some kind of proof that they don't now? OR again are you making a huge generalization? Also 20 years ago had the some of the highest levels of illegal immigration, but those must have been the good illegals, coming here to wave flags and support the 2A right?



JBS said:


> Now most of the immigrants I meet don't even bother referring to themselves as American, they just work here and send money back "home".   America isn't home to them.  They'll stay 10 or 20 years, make money and then leave.



So maybe the ones from 2 decades ago you referenced above are all back home now. Does anectdotal evidence count now? Again a broad brushstroke for a very personal issue. Do you have statistics that back what you are saying? Or do you have isolated incidents that you use to form your opinion.



JBS said:


> Many of the ones that do stay aren't the least bit indoctrinated in the ideals of freedom that we used to aspire to.   I'm convinced people aren't flocking to enter this country for the same reasons they once did.   They could care less about gun rights, and come from countries where such rights don't exist anyway.



So yeah I must not of read what you wrote. You clearly didn't speak for them, you definitely didn't say what they care about, what they will do in the next few years or where there loyalties lay. Or wait, the opposite of that is true. Again JBS you are spouting off opinion as if it is factual, and then seeming offended when called out about it.


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## JBS (Oct 9, 2014)

TLDR20 said:


> By you making vast and complete generalizations and portraying them as facts.
> 
> 
> [snip]
> ...




So what do you call it when someone selectively quotes you to create a meaning different than when the whole quote is used?

Because in your lengthy quote of me, it seems you must have blown past the most important part:



> *I *grew up in Miami, and _ had so many family friends who escaped Communist Cuba, and whose families came here to be American. Now most of the immigrants *I* meet don't even bother referring to themselves as American,..._



The obvious meaning of what I'm saying is that my interaction with various immigrant groups has radically changed- and for the worse.   Of course what I'm saying is a reflection of my perception, just as everything- 100% of what you might say- is your perception as well.  The same is true about every post on the forum.

*Every post I make is my perception. * Every post I make is also in English.  And typed.   These kinds of statements have absolutely no value whatsoever, and contribute nothing to the thread.

Instead of attacking me with snide remarks you might try posting your own opinion, or counter my points with those of your own.



> Again JBS you are spouting off opinion as if it is factual, and then seeming offended when called out about it.



I don't remember the role of a moderator being insulting and disrespectful ("spouting"?), and it definitely isn't professional.  If you want to "call me out" then go ahead and do so, but the only thing I'm reading here is that you were offended by a post that was clearly my opinion.  It's also not the first time you've done this- to me or other posters you don't agree with.  Your post is also void of any facts of your own- something you seem to be demanding from me in support of my views.


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## JBS (Oct 9, 2014)

Also, the article you linked to about how uncontrolled immigration is such a great thing is written by a Leftist activist.  He's also someone who recently mobilied on behalf of Muslim students who shouted down the Israeli ambassador- an invited guest speaker at UC Irvine- so severely that he couldn't say a word.  The Muslim students were charged with a misdemeanor._  (UC Irvine being that bastion of Centrist political views)_

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/02/uc-irvine-muslim-students-charged.html

Let me enroll in his class, stand up and shout him down incessantly with some bearded Tea Party people, to the point where he cannot even say a single word, and see if he's understanding and compassionate as we interfere with his free speech.  Something tells me I'd be escorted out of the building by law enforcement or campus police.


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## TLDR20 (Oct 9, 2014)

JBS said:


> Also, the article you linked to about how uncontrolled immigration is such a great thing is written by a Leftist activist.  He's also someone who recently mobilied on behalf of Muslim students who shouted down the Israeli ambassador- an invited guest speaker at UC Irvine- so severely that he couldn't say a word.  The Muslim students were charged with a misdemeanor._  (UC Irvine being that bastion of Centrist political views)_
> 
> http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/02/uc-irvine-muslim-students-charged.html
> 
> Let me enroll in his class, stand up and shout him down incessantly with some bearded Tea Party people, to the point where he cannot even say a single word, and see if he's understanding and compassionate as we interfere with his free speech.  Something tells me I'd be escorted out of the building by law enforcement or campus police.



That has what to do with assimilation? The point of the article is to demonstrate the length of time it takes to assimilate into a culture. Migration Policy Institute as a source is one I am confident in posting.
Nowhere in that article does it say "uncontrolled immigration is such a great thing." But the guy who wrote it is a what I would consider an expert:

"Author or editor of more than 150 scholarly articles and chapters and 18 books, Bean's research focuses on international migration, unauthorized migration, U.S. immigration policy, and the demography of the U.S. Hispanic population. A member of the Council on Foreign Relations, he has been a Guggenheim Fellow[2] and held numerous visiting scholar positions (at the Russell Sage Foundation, the Transatlantic Academy, the American Academy in Berlin, the Research School of Social Sciences at the Australian National University, and the Center for U.S./Mexico Studies at the University of California at San Diego). He has mentored dozens of students, who hold (or have held) positions at such places as Georgetown University, UCLA, the University of Illinois, the University of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania State University, Princeton University, the University of Washington, the Migration Policy Institute, and the U.S. Bureau of the Census. A frequent recipient of foundation and federal grants, Bean has been a Principal Investigator of NICHD behavioral science grants in population in every decade since the inception of the program in 1969. In 2011, he received the Distinguished Lifetime Scholarly Career Award in International Migration at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association"

"He co-directed a large research program at The Urban Institute and Rand Corporation on the implementation and effectiveness of the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), legislation that initiated employer penalties for hiring unauthorized workers and permitted legalization of unauthorized immigrants in the country. His research involved developing estimates of how IRCA affected unauthorized migration and what factors affected flows from Mexico.[5] In the mid-1990s, he led a group of U.S. and Mexican scholars seeking to improve estimates of unauthorized migration for the Mexico/U.S. Binational Migration Study, mandated by the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform.[6] The research provided what The New York Times called in a front-page story "the first authoritative estimate of the net annual flow of illegal Mexican workers into the United States." [7] This work also helped to spawn adjustments for coverage error in all subsequent official and widely accepted estimates of unauthorized migration."

I think he is qualified to speak about assimilation and migration. In your link his name is not mentioned. Strange that I didn't see any links to liberal activism in any of his works or summaries of his work.


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## JBS (Oct 17, 2014)

http://www.examiner.com/article/bloomberg-group-adds-another-650k-to-wash-gun-control-campaign
*Bloomberg Gun Control $$$$ Millions Begin Rolling Into State Election Campaigns*



> While support appears to be slipping for Initiative 594, the 18-page gun control measure on the November ballot, the lobbying group funded by anti-gun billionaire Michael Bloomberg kicked in another $650,000 last week (third line down, dated Oct. 8), according to the Public Disclosure Commission, lending more credence to arguments that rich elitists are trying to buy the Washington state election.
> 
> In addition to Bloomberg’s Everytown for Gun Safety group, Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer, Paul Allen and Nick Hanauer have each contributed in the six-figure range to I-594. Gates, Ballmer, Hanauer and their wives have each kicked in $1 million or more, the PDC reports say. The total raised so far exceeds $8.3 million; a lot of money to pass a measure that is supposed to be a shoo-in. KOMO and the Associated Press today are reporting that the National Rifle Association just added another $150,000 to the anti-594 campaign, but there's nothing in the article about the Bloomberg group's contribution.



Interestingly, the _*Associated Press*_ did highlight the NRA's involvement, but remained silent about Bloomberg's (hefty) cash infusion.


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