Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg says he plans to spend 50 million dollars this year to form a group that will push to get 1 million gun-control supporters to the polls.
His group, called Everytown for Gun Safety, plans to mobilize voters to back candidates and ballot issues supporting gun control measures such as enhancing background checks for buyers. Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman will serve on the group's advisory board. He says the group also plans to issue candidate questionnaires and scorecards and form a political action committee. Coleman says the group will also ask voters to sign cards pledging their support for what he calls common sense gun laws.
Groups representing gun owners and manufacturers say more laws are not needed, and people like Bloomberg and Coleman should do a better job enforcing existing laws. An Associated Press poll released in December found 52 percent of Americans favor stricter gun laws.