In 2014 he put up $50 million to create an educational nonprofit (with separate lobbying and campaign-donation arms) to push for stricter gun control. Ad Age calculated that Bloomberg’s money allowed gun-control groups to outspend gun-owner groups by 7:1 on television advertising. According to the Pew Research Center, public support for gun control deteriorated steadily over the last two decades. When asked “Is it more important to control gun ownership or protect the right of Americans to own guns?” the public flipped from favoring gun control 57-34 percent in 1993, to favoring gun-ownership rights 52-46 percent in 2014. Americans owned 310 million firearms in 2009, up from 192 million in 1994.

Source: Washington Post January 12, 2023 22:38 UTC