New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg speaks at a news conference in New York. (AP File Photo)
In a radio appearance on Friday, Bloomberg, a gun control activist and co-chair of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, praised the legislation that is now moving forward in the Senate. The bill would require universal background checks for most sales of firearms, including those online and at gun shows.
“The only thing it would not cover is if you sold a gun to your son, for example,” Bloomberg told radio host John Gambling. “Number one, I don't know how we would ever enforce that if it were the law. So to make a big deal about that's carved out, so what? It doesn't change anything.”
“Number two, I would argue if you want to sell your gun to your son, maybe you have a problem in your family,” he said. “Why don't you just give—I don't know if you should have a gun or not, but if you have a commercial transaction of $100 with your son, there's something wrong in your family.
“It's just not something where everybody's pulling together in the same direction,” Bloomberg said. “So that's the only thing it leaves out.”
Bloomberg said he would be satisfied with the Senate bill, which includes initiatives for school safety and stricter penalties for gun trafficking, although he wishes it also had included a ban on so-called ‘assault weapons.’
“It would be great if we could get rid of assault weapons, but that's just not going to happen at the moment,” he said. “So let's do this.”
On Thursday, the Senate voted 68-31 to open debate on the gun control package, as an attempted filibuster by a group of Republicans led by Senators Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) failed to muster enough Republican support to succeed.
Bloomberg said those who ultimately vote for the legislation (S.649) are voting to “save your life.”
“I don't know that you want to have a victory lap, but those Senators—and House members if we get to that—that voted for this should have a big smile on their face,” he said. “They did something to save your life and your kids’ lives, and make this country a lot better.”
“And I will be out there, you can rest assured next November a year from now, saying look these are the people that voted...that's when you say this person voted to save your life, this person voted to let people with criminal records and mental problems have a gun and potentially take your life,” Bloomberg said.