New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said on Meet the Press this morning that he has spent $12 million on an ad campaign urging Senators to support background checks on all gun purchases.
Bloomberg wants Americans to call their representatives and urge them to support universal checks, warning that if a Congressperson votes against something the public wants, there will be a "price to pay for that."
The NRA's Wayne LaPierre, an outspoken critic of Bloomberg's and head of the nation's gun lobby, responded to the mayor saying some of his comments have been "reckless" and "insane."
"He can't spend enough of his $27 billion to try to impose his will on the American Public. ... And he can't buy America."
LaPierre does not support expanding background checks on gun buyers, rather he says the NRA supports fixing the existing system because "It doesn't work. Nobody gets prosecuted; it's completely ineffective."
Congress plans to take up the issue following the holiday recess.
You can watch the entire program on our website including an exclusive interview with David Boies, one of the lawyers arguing for the repeal of California's Proposition 8 dealing with same-sex marriage before the Supreme Court this week. Boies expressed confidence at his case's chance and said it should not be a divisive issue among the Justices.
"I think we're going to win," Boies said. "I think this is a basic civil rights issue. I don't think that this is the kind of issue that's going to divide the Court the way some other issues divide the Court."
Don't miss out political roundtable with a discussion of personal freedom and the role of government plus NBC News Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel with a report on the President's overseas trip and the ongoing crisis in Syria.
We'll be back next week. If it's Sunday, it's Meet the Press.
