Bloomberg Ad Aims at Thune Amendment

Here’s an ad from Michael Bloomberg’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns coalition, appearing in USA Today.

Its focus is an amendment by South Dakota Senator John Thune that would allow the laws of a gun owner's home state to remain in effect, as applied to the gun owner, even when the gun owner crosses state lines.

A press release from Thune’s office says the amendment would “help in reducing crime” because “empirical research shows that states with concealed carry laws enjoy significantly lower violent crimes rates than those states that do not. For example, for every year a state has a concealed carry law, the murder rate declines by three percent, rape by two percent, and robberies by over two percent.”

Bloomberg and the coalition say that tougher local laws will be “erased” by the amendment.

“We can’t destroy the common sense safeguards states across the country have put in place. The Senate must stop this dangerous measure,” Bloomberg said in a public statement.