Regular reader of Biteme.me know in what high regard we hold Michael Bloomberg. Nevertheless, when he offers to put $50 million behind a project, we sit up and listen.

Well, that’s what he’s promised to do with his gun control crusade.

Bloomberg said that gun control advocates need to learn from the N.R.A. and punish those politicians who fail to support their agenda — even Democrats whose positions otherwise align with his own.

Bloomberg’s blueprint reimagines the way gun control advocates have traditionally confronted the issue. Rather than relying so heavily on television ad campaigns, Mr. Bloomberg will put a large portion of his resources into the often-unseen field operations that have been effective for groups like the N.R.A. in driving single-issue, like-minded voters to the polls.

But all is not sweetness and light: Democratic leaders argue that Bloomberg threatens to hand control of the Senate to Republicans, which they say would doom any hope of passing gun control legislation.

via Bloomberg Plans a $50 Million Challenge to the N.R.A. – NYTimes.com.