Bloomberg anti-gun group all smoke and mirrors

by Dean Rieck

8:00am Tuesday, September 03, 2013

"What exactly happens when you throw a political rally an no one shows up - except your opposition?" WBNS (CBS Columbus) 10TV's Jim Heath says the question was answered at a rally organized by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG) and President Obama's Organizing For Action (OFA) in Columbus on Friday...

Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG) plays a good PR game. They perpetually make the news and give the appearance of a large and influential group of citizens who are concerned about gun violence.

But when you look beyond the parade of speaking events and the flurry of news releases (always given top priority by a willing news media), what you see is little more than a pitifully small collection of paid activists, limelight-seeking politicians, and generic "protest anything" liberals.

MAIG is not a grassroots organization funded by a groundswell of fed-up American voters as they would have you believe. It's a vanity organization, founded and funded by one man: New York City Mayor and buttinsky extraordinaire, Michael Bloomberg.

A MAIG "rally" at a park in downtown Columbus on Friday, August 30, 2013 provides just one typical example.

In a recent media advisory distributed coast-to-coast, MAIG breathlessly announced:

Gun owners will gather at Congressional offices, police stations, and city halls nationwide for events in 11 states this week to call on elected officials to support comprehensive background checks that will help guns out of the wrong hands. Polls have found that 82 percent of gun owners – including 74 percent of NRA members – support this tough-on-crime measure.

...

Events will take place in: New York, Montana, Washington, Nevada, Arkansas, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Texas, Oregon, Minnesota, and Ohio.

Sounds impressive. In fact, with (bogus) survey numbers that suggest a majority supports them, it appears to be a call to action to summon an army of grassroots supporters.

The advisory goes on to say:

Ohio Gun Owners to Gather to Call on Senator Portman to Support Common-Sense Background Checks Where: 37 West Broad St, Columbus, OH When: Friday, August 30, 12:00 PM

What else can you conclude from this other than a hoard of MAIG supporters would descend on Ohio's capitol city?

But that's not what happened.

About 100 gun owners showed up to demonstrate their support for the Second Amendment in general and Senator Rob Portman in particular, who has opposed MAIG's extremist agenda. A bunch of media showed up to cover the event. And MAIG? A little after noon, two people with anti-Portman signs walked toward the park, then, seeing the pro-gun crowd, turned around and walked away.

A few minutes pass. Then about five people appeared at the other end of the park and sheepishly set up a banner. A nice woman claiming to be a gun owner read a short, prepared statement about how she was okay with background checks. The growing crowd of gun owners stepped up, engulfing the lonely MAIG supporters, and listened.

Then the five MAIG supporters took down their sign and left.

So where was the hoard of MAIG grassroots support? Where was the popular outrage? What happened to the "82 percent of gun owners – including 74 percent of NRA members" who agree with Bloomberg? Did we miss something?

No, we didn't miss anything, because MAIG is an illusion. It's smoke and mirrors. MAIG has lots of money and they're PR geniuses. But they have almost no support from REAL gun owners or from the general population. There is no grassroots behind them. Take away the money and the news releases and what's left? Nothing but five people and a banner to speak for MAIG in Ohio.

On the other hand, Buckeye Firearms Association, the NRA, and the thousands of other gun rights groups across America represent REAL gun owners. The NRA has 5 million REAL members. Buckeye Firearms Association has 44,000 REAL supporters.

The 80 million or so gun owners in the U.S. are REAL people. Take away our money and what few news releases the media is willing to publish and what's left? 80 million REAL people who value their rights and hold their political representatives accountable.

Mayors Against Illegal Guns is a bluff. An inspired and brilliant bluff. But a bluff, nonetheless.

If you're a politician in Ohio, or any other state for that matter, here are two pictures to keep in mind when elections come around.

This is MAIG: MAIG Supporters