By: Teresa Mull

Billionaire Michael Bloomberg just delivered one of the first speeches of his 2020 presidential campaign, and he made extreme gun control his primary focus.

Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City who has spent millions of his fortune to push gun control, announced his candidacy for president last week. Bloomberg spoke in front of a small group in Aurora, Colorado earlier today.

Specifically, Bloomberg said:

When I started working on gun violence 15 years ago, neither party — neither Republicans or the Democrats — were particularly interested in the issue. My agenda is not some johnny-come-lately list of borrowed ideas. This is part of my life‘s work, and I‘m just telling you I will get this done whether I get elected or not. Now I know critics will say that Americans shouldn’t need a permit to exercise their constitutional rights. But voting is a constitutional right, and we require people to register to protect the rights of all citizens, and this exactly the same idea, because a criminal with a gun can destroy our right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

According to Politico:

Bloomberg’s plan calls for a background check system that entails permits for all new gun buyers, police notification when owners have been prohibited from holding firearms, and a crackdown on unlicensed sellers at gun shows or online, according to campaign officials. As mayor in 2009, Bloomberg oversaw a sting operation at gun shows around the country and turned over illegally-bought firearms to federal authorities. Bloomberg is also calling for a “red flag screening” to block people who pose a danger from getting permitted to own a firearm. Issuers would have to review histories of domestic violence and other risks. And his plan demands that guns not be sold before background checks are complete, a policy his team said could have prevented 15,000 sales to people prohibited from owning a gun over five years.

‘A Relentless Record of Banning Guns’

Ryan Flugaur, Senior Political Director for the National Association for Gun Rights, told GPM previously that Bloomberg’s “relentless record of banning guns dwarfs both President Obama and Hillary Clinton.

“During and following his reign as Mayor, New York City, Bloomberg effectively bared the legal ownership of most firearms and notoriously prosecuted tourists, including military members, for attempting to comply with ‘no guns’ signs at national landmarks,” Flugaur said.

“If Bloomberg becomes president, you bet he’ll take New York-style gun control to the national level. He’ll keep pushing to ban guns and magazines and to strip Second Amendment rights from millions more law-abiding Americans without trial or congressional approval. Michael Bloomberg would be the most anti-gun President in our lifetime.”

Teresa Mull is editor of Gunpowder Magazine. Contact her at teresa@gunpowdermagazine.com.