A gun-control group backed by Michael Bloomberg is stepping up its support for background check legislation in Congress with a six-figure ad buy this week, Politico reports. Everytown for Gun Safety, a nonprofit formed last year combining the groups Mayors Against Illegal Guns and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, will begin running ads in publications including the Washington Post and Politico. It is also launching separate petitions to Congress and gun retailer Cabela's.
Everytown for Gun Safety says it has more than 3 million members and 40,000 donors. After the 2012 elementary school shooting in Newtown, Ct., the mayors group spent $12 million on an ad campaign attempting to persuade senators to back stricter gun-control measures. Last year, Bloomberg spent $40 million to try and elect candidates at the federal, state and local levels who support gun control and other issues the former New York mayor backs. Everytown for Gun Safety is backing legislation from Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) that aims to stop retailers from selling guns to people with incomplete background checks. The prospects of a bill getting through the GOP-controlled Congress appear bleak.