Independent mayor of New York City Michael Bloomberg announced a group that he co-chairs will spend $12 million in a gun control ad campaign that will begin next week. Mayors Against Illegal Guns is targeting vulnerable US Senators in advance of a likely floor vote in April. The group is focusing on states where it believes it can have the most impact on the upcoming vote. US Senator Kay Hagan (D-NC), is among a group of 15 targeted by the campaign.
The Mayors group has a three point legislative platform:
- Require a criminal background check for every gun sold in America
- Ban assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines
- Make gun trafficking a federal crime, with real penalties for “straw purchasers”
In a radio interview with Chris Fitzsimon in February, Senator Hagan said she was “looking at all of the proposals” on gun control. She was non-committal on policy options that Fitzsimon asked her about and she stressed the need to protect 2nd Amendment rights and use common sense. Hagan ended by saying the focus had to be on policy that could “realistically become law.”
The ad campaign will rightfully pressure Senator Hagan to clarify her stated position on her website:
“Obtaining a lifetime hunting license is a Hagan family tradition, and her husband is qualified to teach hunter safety. Not only is responsible gun ownership a part of the fabric of North Carolina, but it is also a fundamental constitutional right. Senator Hagan is a strong supporter of Second Amendment rights, and will fight to ensure law-abiding citizens are not restricted in their right to bear arms.”
Her constituents deserve to know her position on criminal background checks and assault weapons and magazines, now, not when the vote comes to the US Senate floor.
The most apt descriptors are “painstaking” and “incremental” but Congress appears to be making some progress on the move to enact new background check legislation and some other modest improvements to federal gun laws.