Bloomberg’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns Schedules Anti-Gun Rally on Capitol Hill for Thursday
According to POLITICO, vehemently anti-gun New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns will host a rally for gun control on the grounds of the US Capitol this Thursday.
According to the article,
The rally is part of the group’s - No More Names: National Drive to Reduce Gun Violence - bus tour, according to a press release announcing the event. The bus tour has stopped in 25 states to hold events calling for background check legislation from Congress.
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A survivor of the Aurora, Colo., movie theater shooting and the sister of a victim in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting will be among those at the rally.
The event comes just three days after a shooter killed 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard, which is just over a mile away from the Capitol.
Mayors Against Illegal Guns has faced a host of criticism and defeats this year. Most recently the group was defeated in the Colorado recall elections of anti-gun state senators Angela Giron and John Morse. The group campaigned hard for the senators, but failed to protect the senators against recall amid a strong grassroots campaign.
There have also been recent allegations that the group has offered to pay off mayors who attempt to leave the organization in order protect dwindling membership numbers.
Earlier this year, the group took heat for including the names of criminals, notably one of the Boston Bombing suspects, in a list of “victims of gun violence”.
The group has also been in hot water for using New York City’s taxpayer funded resources in its lobbying efforts. Including hosting its websites on city web servers and using city paid employees for lobbying efforts in other states and at the national level.
The group has also had poor turnout at stops on its anti-gun bus tour, with pro gun protestors often outnumbering the anti-gun protestors.
Last month it was reported that over 50 mayors have left the group recently, and recruiting efforts of newly elected mayors are falling flat.