New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg claims his targeting of Democrats who oppose gun control isn't what's hurting the party – it's their stance on gun control itself.
"If I wanted to control the Senate and there was an issue that 90 percent of the people across the country want, I might adopt policies that supported that view," said Bloomberg, referring to polls that found a majority of Americans support expanded background checks for gun purchases.
The mayor was speaking Tuesday in response to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's concerns that Bloomberg's Mayors Against Illegal Guns ad campaign against Democrats who voted against extending background checks threatens the party's hold in the Senate,
reports Capital New York.
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Bloomberg an avid gun control supporter, has put a great deal of his own huge fortune behind the fight, forming the pro-gun control group. After the Newtown, Conn., school shootings in December, the mayor worked with Vice President Joe Biden on the failed background check measure, which sought to prevent criminals and the mentally ill from buying guns. When the measure was voted down, Bloomberg's group decided to target those who voted against it – regardless of political party.
The group plans to put up ads soon against three senators who are seeking re-election in 2014: Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Mark Begich of Alaska, and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, who, along with Montana Sen. Max Baucus, were the only Democrats to vote against the background check amendment.
But Bloomberg on Tuesday said the Democratic senators' fates are in their own hands.
"If the Democrats want to lose control, just go and support people killing each other with handguns on the streets, and the handguns in the hands of criminals and people with mental problems," the mayor said.
"If the Republicans want to win the Senate, what I would do is, I’d go out there and I’d say: 'We support the Second Amendment, but we don't want guns in the hands of criminals and people with mental problems. Period. That’s just dangerous. Whether you're a gun owner or not.'"
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