Former New York City Mayor—and failed presidential candidate—Michael Bloomberg continues to utilize his vast wealth in an attempt to once again push his anti-Second Amendment agenda. This time he’s targeting Virginia, where elections will be held in just over a month.
Bloomberg is reportedly throwing upwards of $1.8 million behind anti-gun candidates in the Old Dominion via his anti-gun group Everytown for Gun Safety. Specifically, one million of that is earmarked for gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe (D), who held the position from 2014 to 2018.
While Bloomberg’s anti-gun stances have been heavily detailed on A1F.com throughout the years, McAuliffe isn’t as much a national name as the former mayor. Still, when it comes to their views towards the Second Amendment, there is virtually no difference to be found. The former governor has even expressed his desire “to make guns an issue in the race.
McAuliffe’s campaign website displays his plan for “Ending the Gun Violence Epidemic,” which lists many of the most-restrictive policies anti-gun politicians seek to enact. Among these are bans on the politically mislabeled “assault weapons” and “high-capacity magazines,” universal background checks, the creation of an “Office of Gun Violence Prevention,” and more.
McAuliffe actually flaunts his opposition to this civil-liberties organization. “[N]ow is the time to boldly confront and end this epidemic once and for all. I have never been afraid to stand up to the NRA, and that won’t change now,” says McAuliffe on his campaign website.
Now, he’s being bolstered by Bloomberg’s cash in an attempt to pursue these misguided policies.
“Bloomberg is willing to spend whatever it takes to tighten the New Yorker’s grip on the Virginia legislature, as well as whatever it takes to get the ex-New Yorker McAuliffe back in as governor. If this spending spree is successful, we anticipate the past will be forgotten, and McAuliffe will have an open-door policy for Bloomberg and his paid-for anti-gun proxies in the legislature, as they do everything they can to destroy the rights of Virginia’s law-abiding gun owners,” wrote the NRA Institute for Legislative Action.
With all 100 seats in the Virginia House of Delegates up for election this November, how empowered McAuliffe will be should he win remains to be seen. In 2019, the most radical anti-gun majority in decades took over authority in Richmond, and many of their anti-Second Amendment policies were swiftly enacted. These included “red-flag” laws, handgun rationing, and more. Virginians will have a choice on Nov. 2, when they decide whether to elect politicians who stand against the right to keep and bear arms or embrace candidates who support constitutional freedoms.
The NRA and its many members in Virginia were thankfully able to stop the most-egregious proposal, but make no mistake, should McAuliffe—and other Bloomberg-backed candidates—get elected, they will once again attempt to make these wishes into law.
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