NRA’s worst nightmare?

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 13:12:00 +0000

Today offers the first ballot box test of how significantly the politics of gun violence have changed since Sandy Hook.

The venue is the Chicago-based House district that Jesse Jackson Jr. represented until his recent resignation. Three main candidates have emerged in the run-up to today’s Democratic primary, which will essentially select Jackson’s replacement, given the district’s overwhelming Democratic bent. And virtually the entire campaign dialogue has been driven by guns.

The force behind this is, oddly enough, the mayor of New York. Michael Bloomberg, who spent years beating the drum for new gun regulations even just about every prominent national leader from both parties ignored the subject, has zeroed in on the race as an opportunity to make a loud statement. A super PAC he created last fall has dumped more than $2 million into the race.

The gun control test

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 13:18:00 +0000

There are a few reasons why the politics of gun violence have changed dramatically in the last few months – and why, even with Republicans controlling the House, there is a real chance that meaningful gun control legislation will pass in the coming months. The obvious one is Sandy Hook, which gripped and horrified the nation in a way that previous mass shootings didn’t and thrust gun issues back into the national debate. But as it unfolds that debate will be shaped by another new phenomenon: a gun control lobby that has some serious money.

That money comes courtesy of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has been a loud and lonely proponent of stricter gun laws for the past decade. Bloomberg created a super PAC, Independence USA, in the closing weeks of last year’s campaign to advance his gun agenda and a few other pet causes. Neither party wanted to touch guns back then, but now neither can ignore the subject, which has created an opportunity for Bloomberg to exert serious influence with his checkbook.

Salon.com > Anthony Beale

NRA’s worst nightmare?

The gun control test