Michael Bloomberg is investing a chunk of his personal fortune to minimize the influence of the National Rifle Association . The former New York City mayor pledged $ 50 million to his new group Everytown for Gun Safety , an umbrella organization for his two other gun control groups : Mayors Against Illegal Guns and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America . It aims to make the political climate more supportive of gun control . The new organization plans to compete against the NRA by adopting its playbook . The NRA has built an impressive and effective organization that touts millions of members , a robust lobbying organization and a massive campaign arm . `` You 've got to work at it piece by piece , '' Bloomberg told the The New York Times . In its grass-roots operation , Everytown plans to increase its membership from 1.5 million to 2.5 million this year to implement its education and mobilization efforts . The group will focus on 15 states that have liberal gun laws , including Texas , Montana and Indiana . States that have advanced gun control initiatives will also receive attention , including Colorado and Washington . Bloomberg says no , again , to 2016 . `` The NRA should be afraid , '' said Shannon Watts , founder of Moms Demand Action . Women , and more particularly mothers , will be the key demographic in the outreach to curb gun violence . `` Moms are afraid that our children will be taken away . In the end , that 's the emotion that 's going to win . '' But influencing those in charge of writing gun policy will be the ultimate goal of the organization , which is also creating a political action committee to elect gun safety candidates to office and a 501 ( c ) ( 4 ) , an IRS classification used to raise unlimited amounts of money to influence voters . It aims to motivate a million pro-gun safety voters to go to the polls in November . In addition , like the NRA , the organization will submit a gun safety questionnaire to candidates and keep a score card of how elected officials vote on gun-related issues . `` If the candidate does n't support gun reform , we wo n't support you , '' Watts said . With an infusion of cash from Bloomberg , matching the NRA 's financial heft will be a little less daunting . The NRA has spent more than $ 30 million lobbying elected officials since 1998 . Its efforts have been very successful in Congress over the past decade , defeating attempts to ban assault weapons and expand background checks . On the electioneering side of the influence game , the NRA 's political action committee has spent nearly $ 150 million on campaigns since 1990 . Already in the first two months of this midterm election year , the powerful gun group raised $ 14 million , according to public data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics . President of Everytown , John Feinblatt , said the group 's 34,000 donors will also play a critical role in rivaling the NRA . `` I do n't want to lay blame anywhere , but it is a reality that the gun lobby has an incredible amount of political influence with members of Congress in Washington , '' Mark Kelly , a prominent gun control advocate , told CNN in December . Kelly 's wife is former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords , who was severely wounded in a shooting in Arizona in 2011 . `` I mean , it 's very clear that many members take their cues on this issue from the gun lobby , '' he said . The NRA has little to say about Bloomberg 's pledge , for now . `` See you in Indianapolis next week . We 'll have a lot more to say then , '' spokesman Andrew Arulanandam told CNN . He was referring to the group 's annual conference , which takes place next week in Indianapolis . Bloomberg 's activism for gun safety increased after repeated mass shootings . His efforts to expand background checks after the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School failed to pass either the House or the Senate , despite pressure from the Obama administration . The organization wants to expand background checks , keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers , crack down on gun trafficking and educate parents about the safe storage of guns .
The gun control movement will focus on electing gun safety advocates to office . Everytown for Gun Safety will become the umbrella for other gun control groups . The effort will target 15 states . Citizens and voters are the key outreach demographic .