DEMOCRATS FEAR THAT BLOOMBERG’S GUN CONTROL CAMPAIGN MAY BACKFIRE AND COST THEM CONTROL OF THE SENATE

Nothing will deter Michael Bloomberg and his Mayors Against Illegal Guns in their zeal to stop gun violence. Bloomberg and his group ignore a steep decline of 39 percent in gun homicides since 1993 absent any new gun control laws. (See the AP report following this Newsmax story.)

BLOOMBERG GUN CONTROL GROUP IGNORES DEMOCRATIC APPEAL TO BACK OFF TARGETING SENATORS WHO VOTED AGAINST EXPANDED BACKGROUND CHECKS
By Sandy Fitzgerald

Newsmax
May 7, 2013

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg apparently is ignoring an appeal from Democratic leaders to back off his advertising campaign targeting senators who voted against expanded background checks for gun sales.

According to Politico, aides to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid met recently with officials at Bloomberg's Mayors Against Illegal Guns to warn them that targeting vulnerable senators who voted against the gun control measure could backfire on efforts to keep the Senate from falling into Republican hands.

The message, it seems, was not received.

The group plans to put up ads soon against Arkansas Sen. Mark Pryor, Alaska Sen. Mark Begich, and North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, who along with Montana Sen. Max Baucus were the only Democrats to vote against the background check amendment, reports Politico.

Baucus was to be targeted as well by the Bloomberg group, but has announced his retirement next year.
The group also plans to dispatch 60 field organizers to other states whose Republican senators voted against the amendment under pressure from the National Rifle Association.

Democratic leaders are particularly worried about Pryor's campaign. The Bloomberg group plans to direct its ads at Arkansas' African-American community, "without which Mark Pryor doesn’t have a prayer of getting reelected,” said Mark Glaze, director of Mayors Against Illegal Guns.

Except for the gun vote, Pryor has supported President Barack Obama and Democratic leaders on other issues like Obamacare and banking reform, and Reid, according to Politico, needs him for immigration votes.

Democratic leaders would prefer that the Bloomberg group redirect his campaign against the three against Pryor, Begich, and Heitkamp to back Democrats who supported the background checks bill, but are facing tough re-election bids in states that lean Republican. They note that Americans for Responsible Solutions, a gun control group financed by former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, is trying to help lawmakers who backed the background check amendment keep their jobs.

They point to radio ads funded by Giffords' group that praise Democratic Sens. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Kay Hagan of North Carolina, as well as Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine. All three vote for the legislation, despite a threat from the NRA to campaign against them.

In addition to Bloomberg's group, the White House has also signaled its intention to work against senators, including Democrats, who voted against background checks.

“They are learning that Newtown really did shock the conscience of the nation and that inaction will not be tolerated by Democrats, Republicans or independents,” Vice President Joe Biden wrote in a weekend op-ed piece for the Houston Chronicle.
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REPORTS SHOW GUN HOMICIDES DOWN SINCE 1990S

Associated Press
May 7, 2013

Gun homicides have dropped steeply in the United States since their 1993, a pair of reports released Tuesday showed, adding fuel to Congress' battle over whether to tighten restrictions on firearms.

A study released Tuesday by the government's Bureau of Justice Statistics found that gun-related homicides dropped from 18,253 in 1993 to 11,101 in 2011. That's a 39 percent reduction.

Another report by the private Pew Research Center found a similar decline by looking at the rate of gun homicides, which compares the number of killings to the size of the country's population. It found that the number of gun homicides per 100,000 people fell from 7 percent in 1993 to 3.6 percent in 2010, a drop of 49 percent.

Both reports also found the rate of non-fatal crimes involving guns was also down by around 70 percent over that period.

The trend in firearm-related homicides is part of a broad nationwide decline in violent crime over past two decades, including incidents not involving firearms.

The Justice study also said that in 2011, about 70 percent of all homicides were committed with a firearm, mainly a handgun.

The data was released three weeks after the Senate rejected an effort by gun control supporters to broaden the requirement for federal background checks for more firearms purchases. Senate Democratic leaders have pledged to hold that vote again, and gun control advocates have been raising public pressure on senators who voted "no" in hopes they will change their minds.

Gun rights advocates have argued that people are safer when they are allowed to own and carry guns. Those supporting gun control say that with more background checks, gun violence would drop because more criminals and mentally unstable people would be prevented from getting weapons.