NYC’s Mayor Bloomberg is mad as hell and he wants Congress and the President to work to stop the gun carnage. He’s been at this for awhile, even creating a SuperPAC this past election that (I think) had a more winning track record than the NRA’s SuperPAC did. He took to the airwaves today with a room full of victims of gun violence to call for very specific actions from Congress and the President. It is worth every minute to watch this (approx. 6 minutes):
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This launches an initiative called Demand a Plan, designed to mobilize people who want to do something to push our legislators towards some actions that might help to reduce the number of gun deaths. He’s gotten survivors and families to tell their stories and provides suggestions of actions that citizens can take. But the three actions he suggests Congress and the President take are good starts:
- President Obama should use his Executive Authority to appoint and seat an new ATF Director;
- Congress should pass the Fix Gun Checks Act — which would require background checks on ALL sales of guns; and
- Ban assault-type weapons and high-capacity magazines, and make gun trafficking a felony.
Bloomberg has been trying to change the conversation around gun violence for awhile now — maybe President Obama should give him an official role in doing just that.