‘Everytown’ project blowing up in Bloomberg’s face

Jemal Countess/Getty Images

Dave Workman
Seattle Gun Rights Examiner
April 17, 2014

Yesterday there was one and today there are scores of Facebook pages dubbed “Everytown for Gun Safety” for several states and even local communities; the work of gun rights activists waging guerrilla warfare against billionaire Michael Bloomberg’s $50 million launch yesterday of a new gun control lobbying effort with the same name.
All of the Facebook pages have one thing in common. They all promote gun safety, including links to such things as the National Rifle Association’s “Eddie Eagle” program and the three key gun safety golden rules: Always keep guns pointed in a safe direction, always keep guns unloaded until ready to use, and always keep your finger off the trigger until ready to fire.
The launch of so many Facebook pages in the wake of Bloomberg’s appearance yesterday on NBC’s Todayshow with Shannon Watts of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America (MDA), a group he funded underscores the ferocity of Second Amendment activists. Bloomberg’s new “Everytown for Gun Safety” organization consolidates MDA with Mayors Against Illegal Guns, another anti-gun organization funded by the former New York mayor.
But in the process of setting it all up, disguised as a “grass roots” effort, somebody in Bloomberg’s camp evidently forgot Facebook. That left the door open yesterday for activists to quickly register the name “Everytown for Gun Safety” (EGS) on Facebook, and launch a bushel of them over the past several hours as pro-gun sites that are now drawing viral attention and no small amount of laughter from the gun rights community.
At last count, there were individual Facebook pages for EGS chapters in Illinois, Idaho, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota and South Carolina, and those are just examples. A quick glance also shows separate pages for EGS chapters in Washington, Texas, California, Florida and most other states as well. The Washington page has a red silhouette of the state with the message "No on 594," a reference to Initiative 594, the 18-page gun control measure.
Many of those states are among the ones Bloomberg’s $50 million so-called “grass roots” effort is targeting this year, according to yesterday’s New York Times. That story identified Washington, Colorado, Texas, Montana and Indiana among 15 states where he will put the “Everytown” financial emphasis.
While NBC’s story about Bloomberg’s new campaign insisted he “isn’t trying to outspend the NRA,” the New York Times piece specifically noted that the NRA “has spent only $20 million annually on political activities.” The former mayor insisted in his NBC interview that “This is not a battle of dollars, it’s a battle for the hearts and minds of America, so that we can protect our children, protect innocent people.”
Second Amendment activists look at it from a different perspective. This is a battle to protect the constitutional rights of the next generation from people like Bloomberg who think their deep pockets somehow entitle them to buy elections and force their philosophy on the entire nation.
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http://www.examiner.com/article/ever...alerts_article