New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) joined the gun control advocacy group co-founded by his predecessor Michael Bloomberg, Mayors Against Illegal Guns announced Thursday.
“As a New Yorker it is particularly meaningful to me that Mayor de Blasio is joining our effort to curb gun violence,” Bloomberg said in a press release. “As Mayor he understands that common sense gun laws are vital to that success – but gun violence is a national problem that must be addressed by our leaders in Washington. Mayor de Blasio and the other new mayors who join our coalition strengthen our efforts to end the bloodshed. I look forward to working with him to change our nation’s laws so we can get illegal guns off our streets.”
Bloomberg and de Blasio’s personal relationship has been relatively icy in the past. Speaking to New York Magazine in the run-up to the mayoral election, Bloomberg suggested de Blasio waged a “racist” campaign by “making an appeal using his family to gain support.” De Blasio also made reforming the New York Police Department’s stop-and-frisk policy, a key Bloomberg legacy, one of the central components of his mayoral campaign.
