Mayor Bloomberg: NRA a 'Loser' in Colo. Recall Election

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Wednesday the National Rifle Association was a loser in the recall of two Colorado state senators who voted for expanded gun control laws.

Bloomberg argued the laws supported by the ousted senators were still in place and therefore, the election was a victory for stricter gun-control advocates.

"The truth of the matter is, in Colorado, the NRA lost," the billionaire mayor said at a press conference.

"We got the law passed, and it's the law of Colorado. It helps the citizens of Colorado, but because you can buy guns and transport them easily across borders, all the other 49 states in this country are better off."

The recall was viewed as a fight between the mayor's anti-gun group, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, and the NRA, which pushed for the recall and supported their opponents. Bloomberg kicked in $350,000 to a group fighting the recall.

But Bloomberg said the NRA went after politicians who were vulnerable.

"Nineteen senators stood up to the special-interest pressures and voted to pass a gun background check on all gun sales. Instead of challenging all the members that voted for the bill, the NRA picked out four of the most vulnerable … and tried to mount a recall election against them," Bloomberg said.

"They failed to get enough signatures for two of the four … They did get enough signatures of two cherry-picked races — including one against someone who was term limited, leaving office in three months anyway — and they funded a major campaign to go after them."

Bloomberg also charged the ousted lawmakers were targeted by opponents on a variety of issues.

"They threw the sink at them, accused them of everything from Obamacare, to civil unions, to driver's license for undocumented immigrants," Bloomberg said. "It was not just on guns, although that's the way the NRA phrased it."

Still, one of the recalled senators, Angela Giron, conceded before the election that if either recall vote succeeded, Bloomberg’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns, which had staffers on the ground for the election, "might as well fold up."