On Tuesday, June 7 the Sun Journal posted a column in which David Farmer, spokesman for the group Mainers for Responsible Gun Ownership, said that the group is excited about the “early seed money” and “the strong grassroots and community-based campaign” for the background check referendum in Maine.
While I am sure that his group is excited to have $3 million dollars and virtually no opposition to date, if your donations all come from one wealthy billionaire from out of state, you can call your organization whatever you want, but it is neither a “strong grassroots” or a “community-based” campaign. Mr. Farmer seems to have mistaken the word “grassroots” for “astroturf.”
You see, while it can be difficult to follow the money sometimes, Mainers for Responsible Gun Ownership is the new face of the group called Maine Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense, who was nothing more than a front for the group Everytown for Gun Safety, which is the group that used to be referred to as Mayors Against Illegal Guns.
Regardless of the current name that is showing up in the headlines, the money is all coming from one man’s very large pockets: ex-NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg. The latest Bloomberg organization, Mainers for Responsible Gun Ownership, is nothing more than a front group established to create the illusion of support in Maine to push the nanny state agenda of one man on the law-abiding citizens of Maine.
The fact of the matter is, before this election cycle, none of these groups existed in Maine. You see, it takes more than just having “Maine” in the title to actually be considered a community-based group.
It is disgusting to think that it is only June, yet Bloomberg has already pumped more than $3 million into the state to spread propaganda and lies for his extreme gun control agenda. That is an awful lot of money when you consider that there are only 491,217 residents of Maine that are over 18 years old and that this measure has repeatedly failed to gain any traction in Washington or Augusta.
It certainly pales in the face of the $30,000 the NRA has put aside to oppose this ballot question. However, the NRA has something that Michael Bloomberg will never have, and that is broad support from millions of law-abiding gun owners across the country.
Bloomberg is just one rich man from away who is prepared to throw around millions of dollars in Maine between now and November to advance his $50 million agenda.
Hopefully at the end of the day, common sense will prevail over the outright propaganda that will undoubtedly flood our airwaves, courtesy of one out-of-state donor.
*This article originally appeared in the Sun Journal.
