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As we revealed last night, Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG) and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America (MDA) are now Mayors Demand Moms for Illegal Action. Or something like that. You can read the official press release after the jump, which claims that MDA has 130k members (which would mean she hasn’t added any since the May 2013 video above). Ah but are they paying members? The National Rifle Association has over 5 million dues-paying members (not to mention the cash they blow on NRA tchotckes). But who foots the bill for Shannon Watts’ anti-gun agitprop? Mayor Bloomberg! And we would have known precisely how much money made MDA Mayor Mike’s bitch if the two organizations hadn’t merged. As TTAG’s own Dirk Diggler (yes Dirk) wonders . . .

“Is this merger because MDA didn’t want to file their 990 form for the year showing how much cash they got from Bloomy so they wouldn’t be discredited as a shill for him?  They were formed in late 2012 so they had no ‘money’ to cause them to file (non-profits with under $50k in revenue for a 501(c) org and under $25k for a 527 org are exempt from the publicly available paperwork).

“However, in 2013, Shannon Watts went “big time” thanks to Bloomy. Come April 2014, MDA was gonna have to file their 990 with the IRS and the world would get to see how much cash he was using to stroke her. Now that MAIG subsumed MDA, I believe that moots how much they received for disclosure purposes since MAIG would make the disclosures now for an affiliated entity.”

In short, pay no attention to that billionaire behind the curtain. You know we will . . .

MAYORS AGAINST ILLEGAL GUNS AND MOMS DEMAND ACTION TO JOIN FORCES, UNITE A NATIONAL MOVEMENT TO PROTECT COMMUNITIES AND SAVE LIVES

Merger Brings Together Americans From Every Background to Fight For Common-Sense Reforms to Keep Guns Out of Dangerous Hands

Mayors Against Illegal Guns and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America today announced their merger into a nationwide movement of Americans working together to end gun violence.  The organizations will unite their grassroots, policy and field forces to enact common-sense policies that respect the rights of gun owners while keeping firearms out of dangerous hands. Moms Demand Action will continue its work as a moms-focused organization in partnership with the mayors’ coalition.  

“We started this movement as just 15 mayors committed to protecting our cities – and we’ve since been joined by more than 1,000 mayors and more than 1.5 million Americans from big cities, small towns, and all different walks of life,” said New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. “Gun violence is, unfortunately, an issue that affects every community, and coming together with Moms Demand Action today will strengthen our efforts to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous individuals and save lives.”

“Gun violence used to be something that happened only in other cities, other communities, but now every mother and every American knows the fear of ‘what if?’ – what if it were my community or my child’s school?” said Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action. “That’s why we’ve come together to fight this tragedy – to save our children’s lives, save American lives and protect the places where we all live, work and go to school. This partnership ensures mothers will continue to play an important role in gun violence prevention for decades to come.”

Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a bipartisan coalition of more than 1,000 mayors and 1.5 million grassroots supporters, was co-founded in 2006 by New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino.  Moms Demand Action, a movement of more than 130,000 U.S. moms with chapters in all 50 states, was launched a year ago this week to demand tougher gun laws in the wake of the Newtown mass shooting.  The organizations worked together this year to pass comprehensive background check laws and other reform initiatives in Colorado, Maryland, Connecticut, Delaware and New York.

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70 COMMENTS

    • Also, it isn’t just as simple as comparing MDA vs. NRA “members”.

      MDA is out to get every single gun owner in the country… so it’s 130,000 vs. about 150,000,000 (conservative estimate).

      • I would laugh if every facebook “Fan” and twitter “follower” was actually pro-gun and merely followed them to “keep their ear to the ground”.

    • I think they did us a favor. Now we can tie Bloomberg’s New York City money to everything both of them do. Bloomberg out spent CO locals almost 7 to 1. It would have been higher except the NRA decided to kick in some cash at the last minute. He lost horribly.
      So now we need to spin the media and tie Bloomberg big money, Monsanto PR rep, and out of state meddling to everything they do period. Every time another mayor gets caught boozing it up with an underage prostitute we need to tie it to MDA. Make their relationship toxic. You know like Mom’s Demand Action supports pedophiles etc. Get people to want to distance themselves. It won’t be hard as this goes on, we just need to exploit the relationship as it moves along. We have already seen mayors trying to distance themselves from MAIG, now we need to soccer moms to do the same.

      • Every time an illegal mayor gets caught: “Bloomberg spokesperson S Watts had no comment.”

        She has some experience in that department, when she was the spokesperson for WellPoint she had to cover up not comment on the CEO who was ousted over a “code of conduct” violation. Hey maybe there is a reason Bloomturd hired her.

  2. The pro 2a groups are stronger then they have been in over 20 years. MDA has no real political power and they tied themselves to a sinking anti gun organization the only real threat from MDA and MAIG is bloomberg cash and he can use that with or without these powerless organizations

    • But Bloomie’s image is on a par with that of Satan, so he needs a front “face” to keep people from running away screaming. Enter Shannon…

      • Uh… No thanks. I don’t want to “Enter Shannon” in any way. Not any part of Shannon. I will leave that honor (dubious though it may be) to Mr. Dirk Diggler, our resident Shannon Watts (aka Sunshine) expert.

        • good lookin’ out – would hate to have to get into a fight over Shannon. A man has limits on what he shares.

  3. Where did these 1.5 million “grass roots supporters” come from? MDS never had any such numbers.
    The GOOD thing about the merger is that SWatts can no longer complain about “gun bullies,” since she is backed by billions of dollars and one of the biggest little bullies in the country.

  4. Hey, let’s be fair, it probably costs a lot of overhead coordinating all these AstroTurf organizations. Bloomberg is just cutting costs by consolidating. He didn’t become a billionaire by just throwing money away, after all.

  5. Wait, What are these two groups trying to accomplice?? Convince people that guns are bad and you shouldn’t have one?? Yea good luck with that one in most of the southern states….have they “MDA” ever wondered why they only have 130k so called “members”. Oh yea they don’t care Becuase they have someone “Mikey” to throw money at them!

  12. Did anyone else notice the shift in Dirk Diggler’s status? Did YOU notice it, Dirk?

    Generally when one of us is mentioned in an article or has a comment bumped up to a post, we’re credited as TTAG commentators. Dirk is now “TTAG’s own Dirk Diggler.”

    Congrats, dude. You’re moving up in the world. 🙂

  13. As I mentioned in the previous post, this makes it abundantly clear that Mayors Against Illegal Guns is against many guns, not just illegal guns. While tried-and-true gun rights advocates know this, there are many uninformed people who do not.

    This will work against some mayors at the next election.

  14. While these people are obvious deceivers, I don’t think this is the case. First off Moms Against any form of Common Sense are a 501c4, not a 501c3. None of their donations are tax deductible. They do have to disclose their donors on their 990 when filing with the IRS, however they are allowed to redact the names and addresses of their donors on their publicly available 990. In any event, I think they would still have to file a “stub period” 990 for the portion of the year prior to the merger anyway. The organization will have to terminate, as it is now a part of another organization. For most of the year it was an independent entity. Tax filings for corporations and/or not for profits don’t work like they do for individuals, where if you get married on Dec 31, you are considered married for the entire tax year. Full disclosure, I’m a CPA, but have very little experience with not for profits in this regard. I just did a little bit of research, and this is what I came up with. I could easily be mistaken.

    • MAIG is also a 501(c)(4) and it may file a “group return” for MDA since MDA is a “controlled entity” . . . they can file a group return. Moreover, I suspect that they may show the funds from MAIG to MDA as loans to an affiliated entity or someother clever trick. Again a FOIA request works wonders. . . .

      From the instructions as to which entities must file:

      “An organization may not file a “consolidated” Form 990 to aggregate information from another organization that has a different EIN, unless it is filing a group return and reporting information from a subordinate organization or organizations, reporting information from a joint venture or disregarded entity (see Appendices E and F, later), or as otherwise provided for in the Code, regulations, or official IRS guidance. A parent exempt organization of a section 501(c)(2) title-holding company may file a consolidated Form 990-T with the section 501(c)(2) organization, but not a consolidated Form 990”

    • In the instructions for Form 990, pg. 7, Section I has a 4 part test that indicates MAIG can file a group return for MDA and MDA does not appears to have to file a return for the earlier part of the 2013 fiscal year: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i990.pdf

      I. Group Return
      A central, parent, or similar organization can file a group return on Form 990 for two or more subordinate or local organizations that are:

      Affiliated with the central organization at the time its tax year ends,

      Subject to the central organization’s general supervision or control,

      Exempt from tax under a group exemption letter that is still in effect, and

      Using the same tax year as the central organization.

      • I am glad our tax code is so cut and dry 😐

        Besides, care to lay odds on them actually obeying those instructions? The IRS seems too tied up with auditing groups on the other side to care…..

  15. Could we assign some sort of image to cover Watts’ face in future posts? That perpetual, smug look gives me heartburn every time.

  17. Bloomberg is such an arrogant little sh1t that it’s hard for me to believe that he really cares about what the peasants know about his funding of MDA.

    And the MSM will continue to genuflect before Ms. Whateverhernameisthisweek, so I don’t see any exposure there, either.

    While this “merger” may result in obscuring financial dealings between the the gungrabbing Napoleon and the moneygrabbing wh0re, that may not be the purpose of the merger.

    Or it may.

    • “While this “merger” may result in obscuring financial dealings between the the gungrabbing Napoleon and the moneygrabbing wh0re, that may not be the purpose of the merger.”

      My intuition tells me that the merger was due to Lil’ Kim II’s ego. He could not stand to see MDA eclipse MAIG in tabloid world, so he formalized the [existing] relationship. After all, a mere “creature” of his could never upstage her creator. Hence the “merger.” I would also opine that she is being rewarded very well for having his hand up her back. He won’t be “hizzoner” in NYC in a few days, so he can do exactly as he wishes without any repercussions.

    • The Midget does care b/c if the public knew this was his personal effort (despite his own 24 man security team, all heavily armed), they would $hit bricks. read towards the end of the article (http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/08/30/godfather-of-gun-control-whos-behind-the-curtain-with-bloomberg/):

      PULLING THE ALPHABET STRINGS

      Mayors Against Illegal Guns is the tip of an iceberg of intertwined gun-control advocacy groups. Pull one thread, and it’s connected to dozens of other funds, councils, centers and PACs. […]

      … Websites and IRS reports reveal at least 24 organizations are linked to or receive funding from Bloomberg’s deep pockets, raising questions about whether the plethora of pro-gun-control organizations is really that numerous or simply an expansive façade controlled by a handful of moneyed donors and activists.

      .MAIG is Bloomberg’s most visible advocacy group, created in April 2006 with Boston Mayor Thomas Menino to push for “commonsense reforms that control the flow of illegal guns into our cities and towns.”

      But its mission is demonstrably broader. […]

      • So I see Bloomberg and Soros black-funding Joyce and Tides at the foundation (high/money laundering) level.

        And from the article:
        “… Websites and IRS reports reveal at least 24 organizations are linked to or receive funding from Bloomberg’s deep pockets, raising questions about whether the plethora of pro-gun-control organizations is really that numerous or simply an expansive façade controlled by a handful of moneyed donors and activists.”

        The details are behind a paywall. A list of those 24 organizations would make an interesting article, IMO. Inquiring POTG minds seem to want to know.

  18. Yes this is a cover up. That is the only explanation that makes sense to me. The joining forces only makes sense to cover up the financial tie. Their messages and their goals/principles overlap in the more legislation arena but not anywhere else. Even in the legislation area they are pushing for different type of legislation. Their “members” are completely different groups of people. MAIG is still pushing the “illegal guns” mantra and MDA is trying hard to make guns socially unacceptable. I just don’t see them as a good fit other than MDA being a pretty face to pour Bloomberg’s money into because of the failures and rejection of MAIG. MDA has also failed so far on accomplishing anything but they have not reached the social rejection level of MAIG. I am hoping this merger accelerates that rejection of MDA. The tie to Bloomberg needs to be stressed, exposed and exploited at every chance.

    On second thought, they both think they can tell everyone else what to do, so maybe they are made for each other.

  19. I wonder what Bloomberg’s next “storefront” organization will be. Evolve?

    Maybe. It has the right characteristics:
    – Appeared out of nowhere
    – Requesting “common sense” and “dialog/conversations”
    – Absurd corporate “sponsorship”
    – Founded by “Marketing executives”
    – No visible means of sustenance
    – “Supports 2A, but…”.

    • I’m sure Evolve will get a little cash infusion as an incentive to tidy up their message. They currently seem a little confused about their own mission and admit that they’re learning the gun debate as they go along, as if they even care about the gun debate. Evolve smelled cash. Incubation of another scam

  20. @ 2:05 “…they locked the door, so we decided to go through the windows” Sounds like they’re painting themselves as thieves and burglars, metaphorically of course.

  21. This douchemonkey is on a show called “The WAR Room” and then when he talks about anti-gun efforts he calls them “the good side of the battle”.

  22. Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG) and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America (MDA) =

    Moms Demand Action Against Gun Sense in America

  23. BFD. I’ve got more important things to worry about, like having a ton of 223 cases to swage and trim for my new scary black rifle. Which I hope causes an icy grip of fear to wrap itself around their cold little hearts.

  24. I wonder if there is a way to see how many users are banned from a particular facebook page? I wouldn’t be surprised if 1) at least 1/3 of the “likes” on MDA are gun-rights supporters 2) they have close to the same number of ‘banned” users.

  25. I would like to know where she gets her information from. Watts made the statement that 8 children die every day from guns. Info I saw on the FBI database with stats from 2012 I counted 892. that’s for kids age 1 and under to 16 years old. Comes out to 2.44 per day. Doh just figured it out. Inflating the numbers to scare the low info people. my bad! Sorry to catch you in a lie Shannon.

  28. Why do we let 1 women and 1 evil dweb of a gnome get so much attention in the press, and here??
    That’s the question Id like answered.
    Personally I pay those two no mind at all.
    And I don’t care how much money he spends because its nothing to him at all.

  29. Last comment went to moderation. Don’t know why.

    Do you want to know your enemy? Know that behind Shannon and Bloomberg are the real enemies.

    A Google search for “shannon watts” misogyny yields three results in the past 15 days, proving their alignment with feminist culture.

    Feminists OWN the word “misogyny” – the more you see it used, they harder they are prodding directly at your package and demanding your capitulation and subjugation.

    Call me a nut, but that is exactly what they do.

    Notice: the mens rights movement and the gun guys are the two LAST stalwart sets of men who still have everything they were born with, package wise. And they (the feminists) are working very, very hard to change that. There is no doubt they will proxy their message through the gun control girls in order to forward the agendas of both groups, which are aligned in every way.

    “Gun Lovers Are Attacking Newtown Activists With Violent, Misogynistic Messages”
    http://www.newrepublic.com/article/115790/gun-control-moms-face-misogynistic-violent-online-harassment

    “You Can’t Fight Guns With Silence”
    http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/12/06/you-cant-fight-guns-with-silence/?_r=0
    –> references the gun rights’ folks “macho swagger” at a recent anti-gun rally (although they did have to give a nod to the ladies and children in attendence, too…keep that in mind!) and a quote near the bottom of the article: “gun activists had left intimidating, misogynistic messages on Facebook. ”

    “Gun bullying? Gun-toting protesters deny intent is to intimidate”
    http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/12/10/gun-bullying-guntotingprotestersdenyintentofintimidation.html

    Here’s the money shot, a direct quote from Shannon herself on Dec 10th, 2013

    “I didn’t even know that underbelly of America existed,” Watts said of the sexist, misogynistic online comments directed at her as the MDA spokeswoman. “The sexuality that seems to be intertwined with guns. The threats of rape and constant sexual insults and threats seem to be tied in with the very aggressive gun activists.”

  31. I was inevitable that “The Mayors for Tyranny” would lose its legs sooner or later because Bloom-Turd could not stay Mayor for ever. Bloom-Turd is on his way out of City Hall and also on his way out of the Public Eye.

  33. “Common sense gun reform”?
    Common sense TO WHOM exactly?
    Ya know, eating monkey brains is simple “common sense” in some cultures but others find it grotesquely inconceivable.
    It’s simple, they don’t like firearms and want them all gone.
    The rest of us do not (and WILL NOT) agree with that.
    I don’t find any of these draconian and even unconstitutional proposals to be even remotely “common sense”.
    They often ask why is it ‘all or nothing’, why can’t there be some “compromise”?
    Lawful firearm owners have been “compromising” non stop since the 1930s.
    They’re done now. There will be no more compromising with our Constitution/Bill of Rights.

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