Stephen Gutowski of the Washington Free Beacon documents former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s misunderstanding of one of his core issues.
Michael Bloomberg, who has spent years bankrolling the gun-control movement, fumbled facts and made muddled claims on how gun laws work while laying out his campaign’s gun-control plan on Thursday.
Bloomberg appeared to misunderstand what the FBI’s firearms background check system does, seemed to make up a new “loophole” in federal gun laws, and made questionable claims about gun use among young people during a campaign speech in Aurora, Colo.
Despite spending hundreds of millions of dollars boosting the gun-control movement, Bloomberg’s comments suggest he lacks a basic familiarity with the details of firearms laws, sales, and operation. Thursday’s strange claims are just the latest example of Bloomberg demonstrating an apparent confusion about an issue he has described as his “life’s work.”
Thursday’s speech featured Bloomberg endorsing universal background checks, an expanded definition of domestic abuser under federal gun laws, a 48-hour waiting period on all gun purchases, and a “red flag” law. Bloomberg also proposed a system of government-issued permits for firearms, saying it would “allow authorities to screen applicants for dangerous behavior” and claimed the current system has no way of stopping people “from getting a gun when they’re a minor, when they have a criminal record, or when they have psychiatric problems.”
The FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check system, however, does verify whether anyone attempting to purchase a firearm from a gun dealer has a disqualifying criminal or mental health record. The process also verifies the purchaser is old enough to own the gun they’re trying to buy. Bloomberg did not say why he believes this system is inadequate or ineffective; his campaign did not respond to questions about this or other comments.
