Firearms Owners Against Crime
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Bill Gates, Michael Bloomberg and three other billionaires are bankrolling a controversial gun-control initiative that will appear on the Nov. 4 ballot in Washington State.
Even the new owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, Steve Ballmer, has gotten into the act, writing a check for $1 million dollars to help flood the airwaves with anti-gun propaganda.
The strategy in Washington relies on big money supplied by a few ultra-rich elites and, if successful, could serve as Bloomberg’s model for tightening the strings on gun owners nationwide.
Initiative 594 would not only require background checks for transactions at gun shows and over the Internet but also person-to-person sales and loaned guns. Even handing a firearm to a friend for a few moments during a hunting trip would trigger the need for a background check if Initiative 594 were to pass, critics say. The cost of the background check, to be borne by the gun owner, is yet to be determined.
Backers of the proposal are flush with cash, as nearly $8 million has been shoveled in their direction from wealthy businessmen such as Bloomberg, Gates, Ballmer, Seattle venture capitalist Nick Hanauer and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.
But Bloomberg and his billionaire buddies aren’t limiting their targets to Washington. He has invested $50 million in similar ballot initiatives in 12 states, reported the Seattle Times. The money moves through his foundation, Every Town For Gun Safety.
His army of volunteers is already working to gather signatures for a similar ballot initiative in Nevada in 2015. Arizona is also among the states in his crosshairs for 2016, according to gun rights advocates.
Dave Workman of the Seattle Gun Rights Examiner reported that a background check law in Oregon has already been deemed a failure by Oregon State Police.
He cited a study by the Oregon Firearms Federation alleging that Oregon’s background check “gun buyer harassment scheme” has failed, and warned that neighboring Washington’s Initiative 594 ballot measure would “expand this failed system to private transfers” north of the Columbia River.
The real intent of expanding background checks to private transfers has nothing to do with stopping crime and everything to do with tracking the movement of every gun, everywhere.
“Make no mistake,” OFF warned, “background checks are gun registration schemes. Efforts to expand them are being funded by billionaires with armed guards. The battle is coming.”
http://www.wnd.com/2014/10/new-trend-billionaires-buying-gun-control/