After the Midterms, Everytown Sets It Sights on ARs and AI Anti-Gun Censorship

Everytown for Gun Safety, the national gun control group founded and funded by billionaire Michael Bloomberg, celebrated antigun Democrat midterm victories during a Nov. 5 virtual townhall briefing and outlined its next moves. Everytown intends to defend bans on commonly owned modern sporting rifles at the U.S. Supreme Court, mobilize activists to shape public opinion and press artificial intelligence companies to restrict firearm-related content.

The disclosure about AI is particularly notable. Weeks after Everytown’s affiliated publication criticized firearm-related YouTube content, the Bloomberg-backed gun control organization confirmed it is in direct discussions with major AI companies about their policies.

Election Wins Don’t Rewrite Facts

Everytown Civic Engagement Director Dina Dariotis flaunted the group’s $53 million in election spending, more than 15 million voter contacts and over 300 Moms Demand Action volunteers elected to office.

That demonstrates well-funded political muscle, but not a public mandate for more strict gun control. As NSSF recently reported, an October Pew Research Center survey found that 45 percent of registered voters considered gun policy (broadly speaking) very important to their congressional vote, ranking it 10th among 16 issues.

Everytown’s rhetoric about firearms was equally revealing. Organizer Jessica DeWeerth called rifles covered by so-called “assault weapon” bans “military-style firearms” designed for battle. Erin Dando, Everytown’s Director of National Grassroots Campaigns, called them the “weapon of choice for mass shooters.”

The data says otherwise. The FBI recovered 276 firearms in 217 active-shooter incidents from 2021 through 2025. Handguns accounted for 168 (61 percent), compared with 80 rifles of all types (29 percent). Active-shooter incidents are not the same as the deadliest mass shootings, but these figures offer no basis for treating the AR-15-style semiautomatic rifles as the default firearm in such attacks.

An MSR is a semiautomatic rifle, not a select-fire military rifle capable of automatic fire. NSSF estimates more than 32 million MSRs are in circulation since 1990. Mislabeling them “weapons of war” does not erase their lawful and common everyday uses or their constitutional significance.

The Supreme Court Fight

Everytown is organizing around Viramontes v. Cook County and Grant v. Higgins, consolidated cases challenging separate state-level bans on MSRs and similar semiautomatic rifles in Illinois and Connecticut, respectively. Oral arguments are scheduled for Dec. 2.

NSSF filed an amicus brief Sept. 4 explaining that the broad restrictions target firearms commonly owned for lawful purposes, including self-defense, and affect manufacturers, retailers and millions of law-abiding gun owners. The cases implicate the protections recognized in District of Columbia v. Heller and the historical-tradition legal test established in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen.

There is also a procedural complication that added a new twist. Petitioner Cutberto Viramontes requested dismissal from the Illinois case Oct. 29, prompting Cook County to raise standing and mootness questions on Nov. 5. The Grant case, involving the Connecticut challenge, remains unaffected.

Everytown has planned a Dec. 2 rally with the other major gun control groups Brady, GIFFORDS and March For Our Lives, plus press conferences, social media campaigns and a Nov. 18 workshop encouraging supporters to submit letters to the editor to various local and national media outlets. The campaign seeks to shape the narrative even before the justices hear the legal arguments.

A New Push to Influence AI

The briefing’s most consequential disclosure came from Everytown Labs Senior Director Sri Madhavan and Policy Advocacy Director Krystal LoPilato. They discussed the organization’s report, Artificially Assisted Gun Violence: Chatbot Risks and Preventative Steps for Responsible AI Companies, and LoPilato confirmed that several leading AI companies have met with Everytown to review its recommendations. Talks are continuing.

Those recommendations include limits on certain firearm-related content and question responses, human review of conversations suggesting violence or self-harm and stronger procedures for referring serious threats to law enforcement.

Preventing violent crimes and responding to credible threats are legitimate safety objectives. The concern is how these companies distinguish criminal assistance from accurate information about legal activity.

Everytown also urges increased restrictions on instructions concerning unserialized firearm manufacturing and firearm acquisition without background checks. Yet federal law generally allows eligible individuals to make firearms for personal use, subject to applicable restrictions. Some private firearm transfers are likewise lawful without a federal background check, depending on the circumstances and state law.

Sweeping prohibitions could prevent chatbots from explaining what the law actually permits. That would not make lawful conduct illegal; it would simply leave users less informed.

There is a telling parallel. As NSSF reported in September, Everytown’s affiliated publication, The Smoking Gun, criticized firearm-focused YouTube creators and their manufacturer relationships. YouTube tightened branded-content restrictions affecting firearm and ammunition videos almost instantaneously. No evidence establishes that Everytown caused that decision, but the effect on lawful product reviews and industry communication illustrates what overly broad platform rules can mean.

The AI conversations are similarly consequential, although the briefing offered no evidence that any company has adopted Everytown’s proposals.

Everytown’s post-election agenda now stretches from state legislatures and the Supreme Court to the technology Americans use for everyday information. Preventing criminal violence is important. Mischaracterizing commonly owned rifles and blurring the line between criminal instructions and lawful firearm information is not a substitute for protecting the public.

 

Larry Keane is SVP for Government and Public Affairs, Assistant Secretary and General Counsel of the National Shooting Sports Foundation.